Taliban declare ‘amnesty’ and urge women to join government ‘in accordance with Islamic law’

The Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government on Tuesday, trying to calm nerves in a tense capital city that only the day before saw chaos at its airport as people tried to flee. your government.

The comments by Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban’s cultural commission, represent the first comments on governance at the federal level in Afghanistan after its nationwide bombing.

While there were no major reports of abuse or fighting in Kabul, many residents have remained at home and remain fearful after the insurgents’ takeover led to the emptying of prisons and looting of armories.

Evacuation flights resumed early Tuesday after a suspension the day before when people packed the runway trying to flee the Taliban takeover.

After Monday’s chaotic scenes at the airport, many Afghans who worked with embassies and NGOs in the United States, France and other Western countries stayed at home waiting for news of evacuation plans.

Older generations remember his ultra-conservative Islamic views, which included stoning, amputations and public executions during his rule before the US-led invasion that followed the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

“The Islamic Emirate does not want women to be victims,” ​​Samangani said, using the militants’ term for Afghanistan. “They must be in the government structure according to Islamic law.”

He added: “The structure of the government is not entirely clear, but from experience, there should be fully Islamic leadership and all parties should come together.”

However, Samangani remained vague on other details, implying that people already knew the rules of Islamic law that the Taliban expected them to follow.

“Our people are Muslim and we are not here to force them to Islam,” he said.

Announcer on air, conversations resume

Under the Taliban, who ruled according to a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, women were largely confined to their homes. Insurgents have tried to project greater restraint in recent years, but many Afghans remain skeptical.

Afghanistan’s main television station, Tolo News, aired a news program on Tuesday in which a presenter interviewed a member of the Taliban media team. Afghan presenters have been off the air since Kabul fell to the Taliban on Sunday when the city withdrew in shock at the rapidly changing situation on the ground.

Meanwhile, talks appeared to continue between the Taliban and various Afghan government officials, including former President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, who once headed the country’s negotiating council. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country amid the Taliban advance and his whereabouts are unknown.

An official with direct knowledge of the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to inform journalists, said that senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Muttaqi had arrived in Kabul from Qatar. Muttaqi is a former minister of higher education during the last Taliban rule. Muttaqi had begun to establish contact with Afghan political leaders even before Ghani fled.

( Jowharwith AP)