Taliban declares amnesty across Afghanistan
By IAR Desk
New Delhi: August 17, 2021: After its swift takeover of Kabul on Sunday, August 15, the Taliban have declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan. They have also urged women to join its government, trying to calm nerves across the tense capital city of Kabul that only the day before saw chaos at its airport as people tried to flee the Taliban rule.
The comments by Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban’s cultural commission, represent the first comments on governance from a federal level across the country after their blitz across the country.
While there were no major reports of abuses or fighting in Kabul, many residents have stayed home and remain fearful after the insurgents’ takeover saw prisons emptied and armories looted. Older generations remember their ultraconservative views, which included stonings, amputations, public executions and no public space for women during their rule before the US-led invasion in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
“The Islamic Emirate doesn’t want women to be victims,” Samangani said, using the Taliban’s term for Afghanistan. “They should be in government structure according to Shariah law.”
Tolo News media’s female anchor was back on air in the first encouraging sign. However, pictures have emerged of paintings and photos of women on walls and billboards in Kabul being plastered over.
Taliban representatives have also been knocking on homes of Kabul residents and collecting weapons from civilians saying people did not need them anymore.
– With agency inputs
