On the surface, it seemed little had changed in the Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sherif since the Taliban captured the city in mid-August. Taliban fighters, piled on the back of army and police pickup trucks, patrolled the city, while the new white flags of the Taliban emblazoned car windshields and flew from the roofs of motorized rickshaws, but in general, life went on uninterrupted.

But under the surface, changes are unfolding.