The Taliban’s chief spokesman said on Wednesday there are no obstacles for the UN to function in Afghanistan, after they barred Afghan women from working at the global body.
Last week, the country’s Taliban rulers took a step further in the restrictive measures they have imposed on women and said that female Afghan staffers employed with the UN mission can no longer report for work. The ban is being actively enforced by the country’s intelligence agency, which reports to the Taliban’s leadership in Kandahar.
The UN says it cannot accept the decision, calling it unlawful and an unparalleled violation of women’s rights.
It says women are crucial for the delivery of life-saving aid to millions of Afghans, and has instructed its national staff, male and female, to stay at home.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban-led government’s chief spokesman and part of the supreme leader’s inner circle, denied authorities were to blame for Afghanistan’s many crises. The decision to bar Afghan women from working at the UN was an internal matter, Mujahid said