That's the media for you even as they regurgitate it.
https://www.coffeeordie.com/tim-kennedy-scars-stripes
https://nypost.com/2022/08/28/us-army-colonel-blocked-busloads-of-americans-allies-trying-to-escape-afghanistan-documentary/...
Probably not. Many recruits of the Taliban I don't believe are urban so they won't be aware of the reason for seat belts in rural areas especially when they're fighting 20 years hiding than driving in the open.
Accident or assassination? You decide.
In this world the smaller countries choose their sugar daddies but what they do have negotiates the relationship.