As earthquakes devastated parts of Afghanistan in late August , Taliban officials asked aid agencies to send more female health workers to assist female survivors. They also briefly barred female U.N. staffers from reaching earthquake-devastated areas.

The flurry of contradictions in the wake of the earthquake did not end there.

Amid the aftermath, as aid groups and Taliban bureaucrats were assisting those injured and left homeless by the earthquake, other Taliban officials twice suspended most internet and cellular reception throughout Afghanistan, complicating aid efforts.

The incidents highlight the contortions of the Taliban four years after seizing power of Afghanistan.

Hardliners are firmly in control, but more pragmatic factions appear to be constantly trying to find workaro

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