A spokesman for the Taliban held a news conference in Kabul and vowed that Afghan women will not be persecuted.
Zabihullah Muhajid claimed “there is a huge difference between us and the Taliban of 20 years ago,’ when women and girls were beaten or publicly executed, not allowed from leaving home without a male companion, denied healthcare, education, and work.
During the conference, the spokesman insisted women will be allowed to go to university and girls will receive an education.
The group also said they want women to be part of the new government after Afghans protested outside the Taliban HQ in Khair Khana district.
But under the new regime, girls and women are still the most at risk, with many gangs allegedly searching for children and widowed or unmarried women they regard as spoils of war or ‘qhanimat.’
Mujahid did not mention what restrictions would be imposed on female Afghans but he said it would be a new government with ‘strong Islamic values.’
“We are committed to the rights of women under the system of Sharia,” Mujahid claimed.
“They are going to be working shoulder to shoulder with us. We would like to assure the international community that there will be no discrimination.”
“We are going to decide what kind of laws will be presented to the nation. This will be the responsibility of the government with the participation of all people,” he added.
Minutes before the press conference, it was reported that Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar – the Taliban’s deputy leader and co-founder – had returned to Kandahar from Qatar.
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen previously told Sky News that ‘thousands’ of school would continue to teach girls as they announced a ‘general amnesty’ for people who previously worked in the country, saying ‘their properties will be saved and their honor and their lives are safe.’
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