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The Taliban expanded their interim cabinet by appointing deputy ministers on Tuesday, but did not appoint any women, doubling down on the hard line despite the international outcry that followed their initial presentation of an all-male cabinet earlier this month .
The international community has warned that it will judge the Taliban on their actions and that recognition of a Taliban-led government will be tied to the treatment of women and minorities.
In their previous rule of Afghanistan by the end of the 1990s, the Taliban had barred girls and women from entering school, work and public life.
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Taliban fighters sit in the back of a van as they pull up to a hill in Kabul, Afghanistan on Sunday, September 19, 2021. (AP Photo / Felipe Dana)
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid defended the latest cabinet additions at a press conference on Tuesday, saying it included members of ethnic minorities, such as the Hazaras, and that women could be added later.
Mujahid bristled at the international conditions for recognition, saying there was no reason to refuse it.
“It is the responsibility of the United Nations to recognize our government (and) for other countries, including European, Asian and Islamic countries, to have diplomatic relations with us,” he said.
The Taliban presented their current cabinet as an interim government, suggesting that change was still possible, but they did not say if there would be election day.
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Mujahid was also asked about recent restrictions on girls and women, including a decision not to allow girls in grades 6 to 12 to return to classrooms at this time.
Mujahid suggested that this was a temporary decision, and that “soon it will be announced when they can go to school”. He said plans were underway to allow their return, but did not elaborate.
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The boys in grades 6 to 12 returned to school over the weekend.
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