Afghan women demand rights as Taliban seek recognition

KABUL, Afghanistan — A tiny radical of Afghan women protested adjacent the statesmanlike palace successful Kabul connected Friday, demanding adjacent rights from the Taliban arsenic Afghanistan’s caller rulers enactment connected forming a authorities and seeking planetary recognition.

The Taliban captured astir of the state successful a substance of days past period and celebrated the departure of the past U.S. forces aft 20 years of war. Now they look the urgent situation of governing a war-ravaged state that is heavy reliant connected planetary aid.

The Taliban person promised an inclusive authorities and a much mean signifier of Islamic regularisation than erstwhile they past ruled the state from 1996 to 2001. But galore Afghans, particularly women, are profoundly skeptical and fearfulness a rollback of rights gained implicit the past 2 decades.

The protestation successful Kabul was the 2nd women’s protestation successful arsenic galore days, with the different held successful the occidental metropolis of Herat. Around 20 women with microphones gathered nether the watchful eyes of Taliban gunmen, who allowed the objection to proceed.

The women demanded entree to education, the close to instrumentality to enactment and a relation successful governing the country. “Freedom is our motto. It makes america proud,” work 1 of their signs.

A Taliban combatant ventured into the assemblage astatine 1 point, but witnesses said helium was aggravated astatine the bystanders who had stopped to ticker the objection and not the protesters themselves.

“We are acrophobic astir the issues of quality rights successful Afghanistan, notably connected the rights of women,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Friday. “It is imperative that women person the close to work, to enactment successful a harmless environment, and those are immoderate of the issues that person been brought to the attraction of our interlocutors successful Kabul and elsewhere.”

The Taliban person said women volition beryllium capable to proceed their acquisition and enactment extracurricular the home, rights denied to women erstwhile the militants were past successful power. But the Taliban person besides vowed to enforce Sharia, oregon Islamic law, without providing specifics.

Interpretations of Islamic instrumentality alteration wide crossed the Muslim world, with much mean strains predominating. The Taliban’s earlier regularisation was shaped by Afghanistan’s unsocial tribal traditions, nether which women are not to beryllium seen successful public. Those customs endure, particularly successful the countryside, adjacent during 20 years of Western-backed governments.

A perchance much pressing interest for the Taliban is the economy, which is mired successful crisis. Civil servants haven’t been paid for months, ATM’s person been unopen down and banks are limiting withdrawals to $200 per week, causing ample crowds to signifier extracurricular them. Aid groups person warned of wide hunger amid a terrible drought.

The Taliban said Western Union, which halted work aft the militants entered Kabul past month, volition resume transfers, which whitethorn assistance Afghans to person currency from relatives surviving abroad. But astir of Afghanistan’s overseas reserves are held overseas and frozen portion Western nations see however to prosecute with the Taliban, putting unit connected the section currency.

There was nary contiguous remark from Western Union connected the resumption of service.

Meanwhile warring has been brutal successful the Panjshir Valley, northbound of the superior Kabul, a past holdout against the Taliban sweep. Late connected Friday celebratory gunfire erupted successful the superior arsenic rumors circulated that the Taliban had captured the valley, which was being defended by erstwhile vice president Amrullah Saleh and Ahmad Massoud, the British-educated lad of Ahmad Shah Massoud, who was killed successful a termination bombing conscionable 2 days earlier the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks successful America.

But Afghanistan’s fashionable TOLO TV carried a connection from Saleh who said the warring had been aggravated and fighters connected some sides had died but helium was inactive successful the Panjshir Valley and helium would enactment to support it.

The staccato of gunfire passim the superior lasted astir 15 minutes prompted the Taliban’s spokesperson and caput of its taste and accusation committee Zabihullah Mujahid to pass his fertile and record against wasting their ammunition.

“Avoid aerial firing, alternatively convey the God,” Mujahid tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Taliban accidental they privation bully relations with each countries, adjacent the United States, and person held a drawstring of meetings with overseas envoys successful caller days successful the Gulf federation of Qatar, wherever they person agelong maintained a governmental office.

Western nations are expected to request the Taliban unrecorded up to their promises to signifier an inclusive authorities and forestall Afghanistan from being a haven for violent groups. They whitethorn besides property the Taliban connected women’s rights, though that could beryllium a harder merchantability for the group’s hard-line base, which is steeped successful Afghanistan’s profoundly conservative, tribal culture.

Ahmadullah Muttaqi, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s taste commission, said a elder authoritative from the United Arab Emirates flew into Kabul’s planetary airdrome connected Friday to conscionable with Taliban officials, without naming him. Afghanistan’s TOLO TV reported that the craft was besides carrying 60 tons of nutrient and aesculapian aid.

Sher Mohammad Stanikzai, a elder Taliban authoritative based successful Qatar, precocious met with British and German delegations, according to the Taliban, which said different official, Abdul Salam Hanafi, had a telephone telephone with Chinese lawman overseas curate Wu Jianghao.

Most Western embassies were evacuated and shuttered successful the days aft the Taliban rolled into Kabul connected Aug. 15. The Taliban person urged diplomats to return.

Taliban governmental leaders person gone connected TV to accidental the satellite has thing to fearfulness from them. But galore Afghans, arsenic good arsenic Western nations that spent 2 decades warring the group, stay profoundly skeptical.

Tens of thousands of Afghans fled the state aft the Taliban takeover successful a monolithic U.S.-led airlift retired of Kabul planetary airport. The scenes of chaos, from Afghans clinging to subject craft arsenic they took disconnected earlier falling to their deaths, to a termination bombing that killed 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. work members, marked a bitter extremity to America’s longest war.

The Taliban assumed power of the airdrome aft the past American forces flew retired and are present moving to reconstruct operations with method experts from Qatar and Turkey. The Taliban accidental they volition let escaped question for anyone with due documents, but it remains to beryllium seen whether immoderate commercialized airlines volition connection service.

Officials from Pakistan International Airlines person met with Afghanistan’s still-independent civilian aviation administration. But Abdullah Hafeez, a spokesperson for the airline, said it volition instrumentality “some time” to cleanable up the debris and reconstruct mean operations.

“There is inactive a batch of enactment to beryllium done earlier planetary flights tin travel into the airport,” helium said.

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Associated Press writer Tameem Akhgar successful Istanbul, Turkey and Edie Lederer astatine the United Nations contributed to this report.