Taliban rulers in Afghanistan are committed in principle to education and jobs for girls and women and seek the international community’s “mercy and compassion” to help millions of Afghans in desperate need, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi said in a rare interview with an international news agency on Sunday.
Muttaqi said they wanted good relations with all the countries and had no issue with the United States and urged Washington and other nations to release over $10 billion frozen funds. “Sanctions against Afghanistan would not have any benefit,” Muttaqi said speaking in his native Pashto.
“Making Afghanistan unstable or having a weak Afghan government is not in the interest of anyone,” said Muttaqi, whose aides include employees of the previous government as well as those recruited from the ranks of the Taliban.
Muttaqi acknowledged the world’s outrage at the Taliban-imposed limitations on girls’ education and on women in the workforce.
In many parts of Afghanistan, female high school students between the grades of seven and 12 have not been permitted to go to school since the Taliban took over, and many female civil servants have been told to stay home. Taliban officials have said they need time to create gender-segregated arrangements in schools and workplaces that meet their interpretation of Islam. Muttaqi said the Taliban had changed since they last ruled.
“We have made progress in administration and in politics … in interaction with the nation and the world. With each passing day we will gain more experience and make more progress,” he said.
Muttaqi said under the new government, girls were going to school through to Grade 12 in 10 of the country’s 34 provinces, private schools and universities were operating unhindered and 100 percent of women who had previously worked in the health sector were back on the job.
“This shows that we are committed in principle to women participation,” he said. He claimed the Taliban had not targeted their opponents, instead they announced general amnesty and protection.
Leaders of the previous government live without threat in Kabul, he said. Last month, the international group Human Rights Watch published a report saying the Taliban summarily killed or forcibly disappeared more than 100 former police and intelligence officials in four provinces. However, there have been no reports of large-scale retribution.
Muttaqi charged the ex-Afghan government with carrying out widespread revenge attacks against the Taliban. Hundreds disappeared or were killed, causing thousands to flee to the mountains, he said. Muttaqi insisted poverty and the dream of a better life – not fear – drove thousands of Afghans to rush the Kabul airport in mid-August in hope of getting to America. He said the Taliban had made mistakes in their first months in power and that “we will work for more reforms which can benefit the nation.” He did not elaborate on the mistakes or possible reforms.
Muttaqi pushed back against comments by US Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie who told an international wire agency last week that the al-Qaida group had grown slightly inside Afghanistan since US forces left in late August.
Muttaqi said the Taliban kept that promise along with a pledge not to attack US and Nato forces during the final phase of the withdrawal which ended in late August. “Unfortunately, there are (always) allegations against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, but there is no proof,” said Muttaqi.
“If McKenzie has any proof, he should provide it. With confidence I can say that this is a baseless allegation.”
Meanwhile, Islamic State militants have stepped up attacks on Taliban patrols and religious minorities in the past four months. The IS affiliate in Afghanistan has targeted Shia mosques in the provincial capitals of Kunduz and Kandahar, and carried out frequent attacks on Taliban vehicles.
Muttaqi however said the Taliban had gained the upper hand in recent weeks, saying there had not been a major attack in the last month. Washington’s ability to track IS activities in Afghanistan has been handicapped since the troop withdrawal.
Muttaqi said he does not envision cooperating with the US in the battle against the militant group. However, he did express hope that with time, “America will slowly, slowly change its policy toward Afghanistan” as it sees evidence that a Taliban-ruled country able to stand on its own is a benefit to America.
“My last point is to America, to the American nation: You are a great and big nation and you must have enough patience and have a big heart to dare to make policies on Afghanistan based on international rules and relegation, and to end the differences and make the distance between us shorter and choose good relations with Afghanistan.”
