In this photograph taken on October 27, 2017 an Afghan woman collects saffron flowers after picking them in a field on the outskirt of Herat For years, Afghanistan has tried to give farmers alternatives such as fruit crops and saffron to wean them away from poppy farming – the lifeblood of the Taliban insurgency. International donors have splurged billions of dollars on counter- narcotics efforts in Afghanistan over the past decade, including efforts to encourage farmers to switch to other cash crops such as saffron. But those efforts have shown little results. (Photo by Hoshang Hashimi/AFP Photo)

An Afghan man is carried out of a hospital after receiving treatment following a suicide truck bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan August 7, 2015. The bombings were the first in Kabul since Mullah Akhtar Mansour took charge of the Taliban last week, and followed a rare truck bomb attack in an eastern province on Thursday. (Photo by Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

Pakistani female police commandos attend a training session in Nowshera, near Peshawar Pakistan, Wednesday, February 11, 2015. Authorities formed a Special Combat Unit after Taliban militants stormed a Peshawar school on Dec. 16, 2014 and massacred 150 children and teachers. (Photo by Mohammad Sajjad/AP Photo)

Children hold Taliban flags during a celebration marking the first anniversary of the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, August 31, 2022. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

A general view of a beauty salon on July 8, 2023 in Kabul, Afghanistan. This week, a Taliban spokesman said the group, which regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, was ordering the closure of beauty salons because they offered services forbidden by Islam. (Photo by Nava Jamshidi/Getty Images)

Sgt. William Olas Bee, a U.S. Marine from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, has a close call after Taliban fighters opened fire near Garmsir in Helmand Province of Afghanistan, May 18, 2008. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

An Afghan man rushes to the target with his horse as a Taliban fighter stands guard during a spear racing in the sprawling Chaman-e-Huzori park in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, May 6, 2022. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

Afghan women pray at the Karti Sakhi shrine on May 13, 2011 in Kabul, Afghanistan. Within many mosques women have separate areas from the men for prayer, however, in many parts of Taliban controlled Afghanistan, women are only allowed to pray at home. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)