ISTANBUL (AP) As the Taliban mass at the gates of Kabul, they are promising a new era of peace in Afghanistan, with amnesty for those they have been battling for two decades and a return to normal life.

But Afghans who remember the Talibans brutal rule and those who have lived in areas controlled by the Islamic militants in recent years have watched with growing fear as the insurgents have overrun most of the country while international forces withdraw.

Government offices, shops and schools are still shuttered in areas recently captured by the Taliban, with many residents either lying low or fleeing to the capital, Kabul. But already there are indications of a return to the harsh version of Islamic rule Afghans lived under from 1996 until 2001, when the U.S. drove the Taliban from power after the 9/11 attacks.