The Taliban yesterday said that they were committed to peace talks and that they wanted a “genuine Islamic system” in Afghanistan that would make provisions for women’s rights in line with cultural traditions and religious rules.
The statement came amid slow progress in the talks between the hardline Islamic group and Afghan government representatives in Qatar, and as violence rises dramatically in the country ahead of a withdrawal of foreign forces by Sept. 11.
Officials have raised concerns over the stalling negotiations, saying that the Taliban have not yet submitted a written peace proposal that could be used as a starting point for substantive talks.
Photo: Reuters
“We understand that the world and Afghans have queries and questions about the form of the system to be established following withdrawal of foreign troops,” said Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the head of the Taliban’s political office, adding that the issues were best addressed during negotiations in Doha.
“A genuine Islamic system is the best means for solution of all issues of the Afghans,” he said in a statement. “Our very participation in the negotiations and its support on our part indicates openly that we believe in resolving issues through [mutual] understanding.”
He added that women and minorities would be protected, and diplomats and NGO workers would be able to work securely.
“We take it on ourselves as a commitment to accommodate all rights of citizens of our country, whether they are male or female, in the light of the rules of the glorious religion of Islam and the noble traditions of the Afghan society,” he said, adding that “facilities would be provided” for women to work and be educated.
It was not clear whether the Taliban would allow women to carry out public roles, and whether workplaces and schools would be segregated by gender.
The group’s spokesman did not immediately to respond to request for comment.
Last month, US intelligence analysts released an assessment that the Taliban “would roll back much” of the progress made in Afghan women’s rights if they regained national power.
Before being ousted by an US-led invasion in 2001, the Taliban imposed a harsh version of Islamic rule that included barring girls from school and women from working outside their homes, and prohibiting them from being in public without a male relative.
Former Nicaraguan president Violeta Chamorro, who brought peace to Nicaragua after years of war and was the first woman elected president in the Americas, died on Saturday at the age of 95, her family said. Chamorro, who ruled the poor Central American country from 1990 to 1997, “died in peace, surrounded by the affection and love of her children,” said a statement issued by her four children. As president, Chamorro ended a civil war that had raged for much of the 1980s as US-backed rebels known as the “Contras” fought the leftist Sandinista government. That conflict made Nicaragua one of
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
RSS