WARPED influencers are flocking to Afghanistan to meet up with the Taliban, pose for selfies with huge guns and even have tea with terrorists.
Dubbed “Talibros”, online content creators have boasted about making friends with feared terror chiefs controlling the draconian Middle East nation.
Since the took over control of in 2021, they’ve forced the country back decades with their chilling views on women and social issues.
The terror group have barred women from attending school after the age of 12, don’t let them leave house without being covered head to toe and teach them they should only dream of being mothers and wives.
These draconian issues haven’t stopped “Talibro” from advertising the country as a “lads trip” holiday hotspot in recent months.
Kieran Brown, 32, from Sidcup, posted a reel featuring snaps from the country, captioned: “This is your sign to book that lads trip to Afghanistan.”
The influencer specialises in travelling to dangerous countries, attempting to visit every one in the world.
When he holidayed in Afghanistan, he told The Sun most of his interactions with the Taliban were “relaxed” and “really positive”.
He doesn’t think sharing from his trips promotes the regime, but said: “The first interaction was actually really positive.
“They welcomed me into the country, sat down with me and offered me tea. It was quite surreal, to be honest, but it immediately put me at ease.”
Olly Hargreaves told The Sun he was also surprised by how welcoming people were in Afghanistan but still had some terrifying experiences.
He said Taliban officials were generally “courteous”, but that there were some stops where you “ended up with AKs pointed at you”.
On one occasion, he found himself having to in a shop when he was told he was not allowed to camp outside.
He shared the bunk with Taliban fighters and said he felt “trapped”.
“Some of them seemed like relatively normal people, some of them were showing me things I didn’t really want to see,” he revealed.
“Like jihad videos – I didn’t want to see that but you’re kind of trapped in a situation.
“They showed me things from like the wars, suicide bombings and things like that. Not great videos that you want to be seeing.”
Chillingly, he added: “They were almost showing it like they were proud of it.”
Brent Timm, who has more than 580,000 followers on , posted a video from Kabul on the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to .
In the background, rows of heavily armed soldiers lined the streets. Brent described the “victory day” celebration as “one of the happiest days of the year for many people” across the country.
Brent later told The Sun he should have been “more precise” with his words saying: “The people I was with were celebrating, while millions of other Afghans may experience the country very differently.”
Two years ago women’s voices were banned from being heard outside of the house. They were also restricted from visiting public parks, gyms or using without a male chaperone.
Women are not safe inside the home either. The Taliban have legalised husbands beating their wives, so long as it is not done with “obscene force”.
One woman whose husband lashed her over and over with a cable wire said she was told by a judge : “You want a divorce just because of that? … A little anger and a few beatings won’t kill you.”
Brent explained that his visit to Afghanistan, which saw him pose with Taliban fighters, wasn’t done without thinking of the people affected by the terror regime.
He said: “There’s an important distinction between Taliban leadership and the ordinary fighters I encountered.
“I did not knowingly meet any senior government officials, policymakers or religious leaders.
“I did meet dozens of men who had fought for the Taliban across years of war. One of them travelled with me for five days and spoke openly about what he described as his jihad.
“What interested me was hearing how these men grew up and how they viewed a war that had consumed most of their lives.”
The Taliban have encouraged tourists to visit Afghanistan since they
They want to be recognised as the government of the war-torn nation, and some activists argue visiting helps the to soften their image on the international stage.
Many travel companies promote Afghanistan’s natural beauty as they sell the experience of travelling to the Taliban-controlled land.
And last year the Taliban launched a warped campaign to lure more visitors to the country, complete with a showing spoof hostages and gunmen.
spent by tourists on visas also goes straight into the pockets of the terrorists.
Brent said: “I didn’t go there to promote the Taliban. I went to show real people, real stories and what I actually saw.
“Of course tourism brings money into the country, and the Taliban has openly said it wants that industry to grow. I’m not pretending otherwise.
“But I’ve travelled to plenty of places where I disagree with the government or its policies. I think there’s a big difference between documenting an experience and endorsing a government.”
He admitted that his “experience as a male American tourist is obviously very different from the experience of an Afghan woman”, but said his girlfriend had recently spent a week enjoying the country.
Brit Olly Hargreaves, from Poynton, near Stockport, visited Afghanistan as a tourist as part of his effort to cycle from the UK to .
His brother had visited the country before him and he was keen to see it for himself.
Hargreaves told The Sun: “By buying the visa, I imagine that’s almost directly funding the Taliban, that was one thing I thought about before I went.
“But at the same time, I was also thinking, by going through, I get to share my experience of the country.”
star Kieran Brown said: “Obviously, tourism brings money into the country, but that wasn’t my motivation for going.
“I went because I wanted to experience Afghanistan for myself and meet the people who live there. I’m not there to promote the Taliban or endorse their policies.”
Some experts have criticised the way where locals are suffering to rack up the views on their own videos and even monetise their content.
Others claim that isolating countries completely is more dangerous.
Kieran Brown insisted: “I don’t think being honest about my experience is the same as promoting the Taliban. If someone was friendly towards me, I’m going to say they were friendly. That doesn’t mean I support them or their policies.
“I’m not there to tell people the Taliban are good or that Afghanistan is perfect as it’s far from that – I’m just showing people a side of the country they might not otherwise see.”
When asked if he had any red lines, or people he would not share tea with, Kieran said: “There are obviously people I wouldn’t sit down with, especially anyone directly involved in or violence against civilians.
“But I’m generally open to speaking to people I don’t necessarily agree with.”
More than 46,000 civilians were killed between 2001 and 2021 in the war in Afghanistan with up to 80 per cent of those slaughtered by the Taliban.
Now, anyone who criticises Afghanistan’s brutal rulers faces being tortured. But visitors say they felt “safe” while visiting the country.
Kieran said: “I did feel safe while I was there but I was very aware that Afghanistan isn’t somewhere you can just switch off and forget where you are.
“I was careful about where I went and how I behaved, but I never felt like the ordinary people I met were hostile towards me. If anything, I was surprised by how welcoming they were.
“This is coming from a man, however – I don’t know what my experience would be if I was female.”
While fewer than 700 tourists visited Afghanistan in 2021, the five years since have seen huge year-on-year growth as the Taliban tries to tempt holidaymakers to its territory.
The British Foreign Office continues to advise against all travel to Afghanistan, calling it “extremely dangerous” with the security situation “volatile”.
It noted that tensions between neighbouring Pakistan have previously resulted in violent clashes in border regions and stressed that British nationals are at “heightened risk” facing “months or years of imprisonment” in the country.
