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UN committees urge Taliban to protect women and girls

30 August 2021 21:57 (UTC +04:00)

A number of UN committees have called on the Taliban to protect the rights of Afghan women and girls, APA reports citing BBC.

The two bodies, which deal with the rights of women and children, said in a statement issued on Monday that they were "alarmed by the restrictive practices and ongoing reports of targeted attacks on women and girls including academics, health workers, human rights defenders, media workers, civil servants and many others".

Since taking power two weeks ago, the Taliban has pledged to form an inclusive government and respect women's rights to work and education.

The committees urged the group "to honour their own commitments and not to let history repeat itself", but voiced their concern at the Taliban's caveat that women's activity within society would have to adhere to its strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.

During the Taliban's previous rule in the 1990s, girls were not allowed to go to school and women could only leave their homes if they wore the all-encompassing burka and were accompanied by a male chaperone.