The Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join its government on Tuesday, 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 during their rule before the US-led invasion in Afghanistan following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.
Back then, women were barred from attending school or working outside the home. They had to wear the all-encompassing burqa and be accompanied by a male relative whenever they went outside. The Taliban banned music, cut off the hands of thieves and stoned adulterers.
“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.”
He added: “The structure of government is not fully clear, but based on experience, there should be a fully Islamic leadership and all sides should join.”
Samangani remained vague on other details, however, implying people already knew the rules of the Islamic law the Taliban expected them to follow.
“Our people are Muslims and we are not here to force them to Islam,” he said.
The insurgents have sought to project greater moderation in recent years, but many Afghans remain skeptical.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Stefano Pontecorvo, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s senior civilian representative to Afghanistan, posted a video online, showing the runway empty with American troops on the tarmac at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. What appeared to be a military cargo plane could be seen in the distance from behind a chain-link fence in the footage.