<p>Taliban fighters have taken over the glitzy Kabul mansion of one of their fiercest enemies -- the warlord and fugitive ex-vice president Abdul Rashid Dostum.</p>.<p>Now in the hands of rank and file Taliban fighters, the opulent villa has given the austere Islamists a peek into the lives of Afghanistan's former rulers, and they say the luxury is the proceeds of years of endemic corruption.</p>.<p>Along an endless corridor with a thick apple-green carpet, a young fighter sleeps slumped on a sofa, his Kalashnikov rifle resting against him, as exotic fish glide above him in one of seven giant tanks.</p>.<p>The fighter is part of the personal security detail of Qari Salahuddin Ayoubi -- one of the new regime's most powerful commanders -- who installed his company of 150 men in the mansion on August 15, the day Kabul fell.</p>.<p>The luxury AFP saw on a tour of the mansion would be unimaginable for most ordinary Afghans.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/taliban-say-girls-women-may-study-in-no-men-classrooms-1029539.html" target="_blank">Read | Taliban say girls, women may study in no-men classrooms</a></strong></p>.<p>Huge glass chandeliers hang in cavernous halls, large soft sofas furnish a maze of lounges and an indoor swimming pool is finished with intricate turquoise tiles.</p>.<p>It even boasts a sauna, a Turkish steam bath and a fully equipped gym.</p>.<p>It is an out of this world experience for the new occupants, who for years sacrificed creature comforts for rebellion -- living on their wits in the plains, valleys and mountains of rural Afghanistan.</p>.<p>But the new head of the household -- now the military commander of four provinces -- makes it clear his men will not get used to the luxury.</p>.<p>"Islam never wants us to have a luxurious life," Ayoubi told AFP, adding luxury comes in paradise, "the life after death".</p>.<p>The mansion's owner, Dostum, is a notorious figure woven into the fabric of Afghanistan's recent history.</p>.<p>A former paratrooper, communist commander, warlord and vice president, he was the very definition of a cunning political survivor who weathered over four decades of conflict in war-torn Afghanistan.</p>.<p>Despite a series of war crimes linked to Dostum's forces, the former Afghan government hoped his military acumen and seething hatred of the Taliban would help them survive.</p>.<p>But his stronghold was overrun and the greying 67-year-old fled across the border to Uzbekistan.</p>.<p>Dostum is widely suspected to have hugely profited from the corruption and embezzlement that discredited the former government.</p>.<p>Several officials illegally took land to build luxurious mansions in one neighbourhood, earning it the nickname "Thieves' Quarter" among locals.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/20-years-after-9/11-al-qaeda-is-defeated-but-jihadism-is-here-to-stay-1029526.html" target="_blank">Read | 20 years after 9/11: Al-Qaeda is defeated – but jihadism is here to stay</a></strong></p>.<p>In one wing of the enormous house, Taliban fighters relaxed in a massive tropical greenhouse of several hundred square metres under a huge glass roof.</p>.<p>That is overlooked by a mezzanine dominated by a dark wood bar -- a testament to the reported decadent tastes of a general renowned for a penchant for late nights and strong liquor.</p>.<p>The Taliban have good reason to hate Dostum.</p>.<p>In 2001, he was accused of killing more than 2,000 fighters -- locking many in containers in the middle of the desert where they suffocated under a scorching sun.</p>.<p>But Commander Ayoubi rejected any desire for revenge.</p>.<p>"If other people who had been oppressed like us came here, you would not have seen the chairs and tables. They might have destroyed them," he said.</p>.<p>But the new regime will not allow such luxury to be built with ill-gotten gains in the future, he said.</p>.<p>"We are on the side of the poor," he says, as dozens of visitors wait patiently in the corridor, idly watching the indifferent fish.</p>
<p>Taliban fighters have taken over the glitzy Kabul mansion of one of their fiercest enemies -- the warlord and fugitive ex-vice president Abdul Rashid Dostum.</p>.<p>Now in the hands of rank and file Taliban fighters, the opulent villa has given the austere Islamists a peek into the lives of Afghanistan's former rulers, and they say the luxury is the proceeds of years of endemic corruption.</p>.<p>Along an endless corridor with a thick apple-green carpet, a young fighter sleeps slumped on a sofa, his Kalashnikov rifle resting against him, as exotic fish glide above him in one of seven giant tanks.</p>.<p>The fighter is part of the personal security detail of Qari Salahuddin Ayoubi -- one of the new regime's most powerful commanders -- who installed his company of 150 men in the mansion on August 15, the day Kabul fell.</p>.<p>The luxury AFP saw on a tour of the mansion would be unimaginable for most ordinary Afghans.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/taliban-say-girls-women-may-study-in-no-men-classrooms-1029539.html" target="_blank">Read | Taliban say girls, women may study in no-men classrooms</a></strong></p>.<p>Huge glass chandeliers hang in cavernous halls, large soft sofas furnish a maze of lounges and an indoor swimming pool is finished with intricate turquoise tiles.</p>.<p>It even boasts a sauna, a Turkish steam bath and a fully equipped gym.</p>.<p>It is an out of this world experience for the new occupants, who for years sacrificed creature comforts for rebellion -- living on their wits in the plains, valleys and mountains of rural Afghanistan.</p>.<p>But the new head of the household -- now the military commander of four provinces -- makes it clear his men will not get used to the luxury.</p>.<p>"Islam never wants us to have a luxurious life," Ayoubi told AFP, adding luxury comes in paradise, "the life after death".</p>.<p>The mansion's owner, Dostum, is a notorious figure woven into the fabric of Afghanistan's recent history.</p>.<p>A former paratrooper, communist commander, warlord and vice president, he was the very definition of a cunning political survivor who weathered over four decades of conflict in war-torn Afghanistan.</p>.<p>Despite a series of war crimes linked to Dostum's forces, the former Afghan government hoped his military acumen and seething hatred of the Taliban would help them survive.</p>.<p>But his stronghold was overrun and the greying 67-year-old fled across the border to Uzbekistan.</p>.<p>Dostum is widely suspected to have hugely profited from the corruption and embezzlement that discredited the former government.</p>.<p>Several officials illegally took land to build luxurious mansions in one neighbourhood, earning it the nickname "Thieves' Quarter" among locals.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/world-news-politics/20-years-after-9/11-al-qaeda-is-defeated-but-jihadism-is-here-to-stay-1029526.html" target="_blank">Read | 20 years after 9/11: Al-Qaeda is defeated – but jihadism is here to stay</a></strong></p>.<p>In one wing of the enormous house, Taliban fighters relaxed in a massive tropical greenhouse of several hundred square metres under a huge glass roof.</p>.<p>That is overlooked by a mezzanine dominated by a dark wood bar -- a testament to the reported decadent tastes of a general renowned for a penchant for late nights and strong liquor.</p>.<p>The Taliban have good reason to hate Dostum.</p>.<p>In 2001, he was accused of killing more than 2,000 fighters -- locking many in containers in the middle of the desert where they suffocated under a scorching sun.</p>.<p>But Commander Ayoubi rejected any desire for revenge.</p>.<p>"If other people who had been oppressed like us came here, you would not have seen the chairs and tables. They might have destroyed them," he said.</p>.<p>But the new regime will not allow such luxury to be built with ill-gotten gains in the future, he said.</p>.<p>"We are on the side of the poor," he says, as dozens of visitors wait patiently in the corridor, idly watching the indifferent fish.</p>