It's a Middle Eastern country smaller in size than the U.S. state of Texas.

Why is the whole world talking about Afghanistan?

Today we'll talk about what's happening to the country and its people.

I'm Bethany Van Delft.

It's September 2nd, and this is the 10 News.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

This past month, the United States military officially withdrew, or left, Afghanistan,

where they had been supporting the Afghan government in their fight against the Taliban,

a radical religious group.

So what does this all mean?

Our correspondent Pamela Kirkland is here to help us understand the context

and give us a look at what's going on in Afghanistan now.

Kimia Yusofi, an Olympic sprinter at the Tokyo Games this year, didn't win a medal.

But she did have the honor of being the flag bearer for her country of Afghanistan.

She was the first woman to hold the flag for the country.

Now, she wonders if she might be the last. She and thousands of other Afghan

women and girls are now wondering what their futures will be as the U.S. leaves Afghanistan

and the Taliban has taken over the government. Some people feel like we have a responsibility to stay. But why were we there in the first place?

And who are the Taliban? The Taliban started as an extremely religious group who considered

themselves patriots of Afghanistan. Islam is a religion practiced by over a billion people worldwide. And while the word Islam comes

from the Arabic word for peace, the Taliban's beliefs took Islam to the extreme, including the

belief that women are less important than men and should not be allowed to work, go to school, and in some cases,

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