Rights Of Afghan Women And Children Continue To Be Restricted, US Will Increase Pressure On Taliban

JAKARTA - The United States will take steps to increase pressure on the Afghan Taliban government, to reverse some recent decisions restricting the rights of women and girls, if the hardline group shows no signs of undoing its own actions.

"We have discussed it directly with the Taliban," State Department spokesman Ned Price said Monday.

"We have a number of tools that, if we feel this is not going to be reversed, this is not going to be undone, that we are ready to move forward."

He did not elaborate on possible steps or indicate how the group, which has implemented a policy limiting 20 years' gain for girls' and women's rights, might change its mind.

The Taliban on Saturday ordered women to cover their faces in public, a return to a typical policy of their past hardline rule, an escalation of restrictions that caused outrage at home and abroad.

The ideal face covering is the all-encompassing blue burqa, the group said, referring to the attire that was mandatory for women in public during the previous 1996-2001 Taliban rule.

Meanwhile, the international community has made the education of girls a key demand for recognition of the future government of the Taliban, which took over the country in August when foreign troops withdrew.

Nonetheless, the Taliban have restricted girls and women from working, restricting their travel unless accompanied by a close male relative. Most girls are also barred from going to school after seventh grade.

"We have been in close consultation with our allies and partners. There are steps we will continue to take to increase pressure on the Taliban to reverse some of these decisions, to fulfill the promises they have made," Price said.

A key part of the influence Washington wields over the group is the frozen US$7 billion of Afghanistan's central bank assets in Uncle Sam's country, half of which President Biden's administration wants to release to help the Afghan people, the government said.

The United States and other countries have cut development aid and sanctioned the banking system since the group took over, pushing Afghanistan to economic collapse.

Separately, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Tom West expressed his "deep concern" over Saturday's decision in a series of tweets, while US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said it was an "absurd" move.

It is known that most women in Afghanistan wear the hijab for religious reasons. However, most women in urban areas like Kabul do not cover their faces.