Seeking To Project More Moderate Image, Taliban Vows Respect For Women's Rights 'Within Islam'
August 17, 2021
As part of a public relations offensive meant to prove to the world and its own fearful population that the fundamentalist group has changed, the Taliban has pledged to observe women's rights, to provide an amnesty to those who fought them, and to prevent Afghanistan from being used as a launchpad for terrorist attacks.
In the group's first official news conference in Kabul since the group's shock seizure of the city, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the militants wanted peaceful relations with other countries and said women would be allowed to work and study and "will be very active in society but within the framework of Islam."
"We don't want any internal or external enemies," said Mujahid, who had been a shadowy figure for years.
Not using Afghanistan as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against the United States and other countries is a key demand in a deal the militants struck with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump last year that led to the ultimate U.S. withdrawal under current President Joe Biden.
In response to the pledges made by the Taliban at its news conference, the United Nations said it will need to see action from the group on the ground.
"We will need to see what actually happens and I think we will need to see action on the ground in terms of promises kept," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.
Earlier in the day in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned the Taliban that it cannot allow Afghanistan to once again become a breeding ground for terrorism.
"Those now taking power have the responsibility to ensure that international terrorists do not regain a foothold," Stoltenberg told a news conference.
Earlier on August 17, the Taliban announced a general "amnesty" for all in Afghanistan as military flights evacuating diplomats and civilians fearing the militants resumed from Kabul's international airport, a day after chaotic scenes at the facility interrupted evacuation operations.
Mujahid promised Afghans that the amnesty would also apply to those who opposed the Taliban.
He said that those who worked as interpreters and translators for the U.S.-led forces will not be targeted and can return or stay in Afghanistan, including those who are currently at the Kabul airport waiting to leave the country. Their talents are needed for Afghanistan, Mujahid said.
Answering a question about negotiations to form a new government, Mujahid said the Taliban has been in touch with negotiators Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the Afghan National Reconciliation Council, and former President Hamid Karzai; and Gulbudin Hekmatyar, the leader of Hizb-e-Islami political and paramilitary group.
The Taliban wants an inclusive government, but within the values of Islam, he said.
Stoltenberg said that although NATO has withdrawn its forces from Afghanistan, the alliance will remain on alert for signs that terrorist groups are regrouping there and could strike from a distance.
Stoltenberg said NATO had been surprised by the speed of the Taliban victory but blamed Afghan leaders for the unfolding "tragedy," echoing Biden's statement a day earlier.
"This failure of the Afghan leadership led to the tragedy we are witnessing," Stoltenberg said, noting that NATO's aim was to help build a viable state, not to maintain a permanent presence there.
Meanwhile, streets across Kabul were quiet and the situation at the airport improved, allowing for the flights that were interrupted a day earlier when thousands of scared Afghans swarmed the airfield in a desperate attempt to flee the country after the Taliban captured the capital and the government collapsed with President Ashraf Ghani fleeing abroad.
Kabul was the last major city in Afghanistan to hold out against a Taliban offensive that accelerated in the space of days as the militant group rapidly gained control of territories across the country.
The militants have taken control of the city's security and could be seen in streets and squares, which remained largely empty with little traffic. Big markets and shopping malls are closed but people were getting supplies from some grocery stores.
The Taliban's co-founder meanwhile returned to Afghanistan on August 17. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar arrived in Kandahar -- the group's birthplace -- from Qatar, where he has spent months leading talks with the United States and peace negotiators representing what was then the Afghan government.
In Brussels, European Union foreign ministers and NATO ambassadors were holding emergency meetings on August 17 to discuss evacuation plans and the situation in general in Afghanistan.
European officials are calling for a common EU response to a large migrant flow expected from Afghanistan after the Taliban regained control of the war-torn country.
The UN Security Council on August 16 called for talks to create a new government in Afghanistan after Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of "chilling" curbs on human rights and violations against women and girls.
Karzai and Abdullah were set to travel to Qatar on August 17 to meet with Taliban representatives and discuss the future of Afghanistan.
However, a source in the Supreme National Reconciliation Council of Afghanistan who did not want to be named, told RFE/RL that the visit had been delayed. The source did not give any reason for the delay.
Meanwhile, Western governments scrambled to evacuate their nationals, Afghans who worked alongside them, and others considered vulnerable under Taliban rule.
India on August 17 became the latest major country to evacuate its embassy in Kabul, as the top U.S. diplomat in the Afghan capital dismissed reports that he had left the country.
"Contrary to false reports, @USEmbassyKabul staff & I remain in #Kabul working hard to help 1000s of U.S. citizens and vulnerable Afghans & continuing engagement here," the U.S. charge d'affaires in Kabul, Ross Wilson, said in a tweet.
With reporting by AFP, AP, Reuters, and the BBC
This story also includes reporting by Radio Azadi correspondents on the ground in Afghanistan. Their names are being withheld for their protection.
Source: https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/taliban-afghanistan- terrorist-launchpad/31415129.html
Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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