The Taliban unveils its SUPERCAR (powered by a Toyota Corolla engine)

The Taliban have unveiled the first-ever supercar designed and made in Afghanistan.

The aggressive and sleek Mada 9 sports car prototype is the result of five years of design and development led by 30 engineers from manufacturer ENTOP and the Afghanistan Technical Vocational Institute (ATVI) in Kabul.

Its on-road capabilities remain to be seen – the vehicle is immobile in almost all images circulating on social media, and ENTOP has not released any performance data.

It’s unlikely to rival the likes of Bugatti and McLaren, as the team behind Mada 9 claims the engine is that of a relatively pedestrian Toyota Corolla hatchback.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid proudly posted pictures of the car on social media, saying the construction was an “honour” for the entire country.

“I would like to thank the Ministry of Vocational Education, under their umbrella the country has received valuable services,” he wrote on Twitter.

A clip showed the coupe gently gliding along a snowy road with a pleasant throaty rumble from the exhaust, much to the delight of eager onlookers, suggesting that the Mada 9 is at least a step ahead of most other prototype cars.

ATVI head Ghulam Haidar Shahamat told Afghanistan’s TOLO News that the Toyota Corolla engine has been modified so that “if you increase the speed, it’s powerful enough to handle it,” but claimed that ENTOP is planning an electric powertrain to be installed in the Mada 9 at a later date.

Taliban Minister of Higher Education Abdul Baqi Haqqani delivered an impassioned speech at the unveiling of the car at ENTOP headquarters, praising Afghanistan’s scientific values ​​and claiming that the car was proof of the regime’s commitment to provide “religious and modern sciences for his people.”

Meanwhile, ENTOP CEO Mohammad Riza Ahmadi told TOLO News he hoped the supercar would “convey the value of knowledge to the people” and help boost Afghanistan’s image on the world stage.

“It will start its journey in Afghanistan and may one day go international,” he told TOLO News reporters.

A tweet Ahmadi posted on New Year’s Eve read: “I thank God very much that I was able to complete the construction of Afghanistan’s first car.

“I would like to thank the great national businessmen and the dear people of Afghanistan who stood by my side during this time.”

TOLO News reported that the prototype will be complete soon, claiming that “work is underway to display the car at international exhibitions.”

News of the supercar was met with critical acclaim in Afghanistan, with social media users eagerly sharing images of the vehicle, claiming it was a testament to the country’s scientific and technological capabilities.

But many more users pointed out that the supercar was unveiled as Afghanistan battles one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, while the country’s women have had their rights to study and work wiped out by the Taliban.

The Taliban had “promised through their representatives that there will be no ban on education for women or female workers,” said Jan Egeland, secretary general of the independent Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

It is clear that we have been misled by the Taliban government. It is clear that they are now making it impossible for us to work,” he said on Monday.

The NRC has nearly 500 female employees working in areas such as food security, education, legal assistance, water and sanitation in remote areas of Afghanistan.

Women are vital to on-the-ground relief operations in Afghanistan, particularly in identifying other women in need, but are no longer able to fulfill their role.

International aid agencies say many of Afghanistan’s 38 million people are starving and three million children are at risk of malnutrition.

The hardline Islamists seized power in August 2021, promising a softer version of their brutal 1996-2001 rule, which was notorious for human rights abuses.

But they have been rapidly driving women out of nearly all areas of public life in recent months, banning them from secondary and higher education, public sector work, and visiting parks and baths.

Egeland said several senior Taliban officials oppose the decrees, acknowledging that many had sent their daughters to schools run by NGOs before the end of the war.

“I hear there’s a fierce debate going on in the Taliban… There’s an internal struggle and the wrong group now seems to have the upper hand,” he said.

Government officials claim the ban was imposed because women fail to follow Taliban rules about wearing the hijab, a claim denied by aid workers.

The Taliban government has yet to be officially recognized by any country and only a handful of countries have a presence in Afghanistan.