conflicts Taliban prime minister defended the group’s rule in a public address Saturday, saying it was not to blame for a worsening economic crisis and is working to repair the corruption of the ousted world-politics” target=”_blank”>government<-backed government, adding that Afghans should not believe claims that the Taliban were to blame.
AFGHANISTAN’S ACTING PM CALLS ON THOSE WHO WORKED ALONGSIDE US TO RETURN: LIVE UPDATES
“Nation, be vigilant. Those left over from the previous government in hiding are … causing anxiety, misleading the people to distrust their government,” he said.
Taliban fighters stand guard during women’s protest in Kabul, Afghanistan, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. (AP Photo/Ahmad Halabisaz)
(AP Photo/Ahmad Halabisaz)
The ousted government had run “the weakest system in the world,” he said, pointing to pervasive corruption. In contrast, he said, the Taliban are eliminating corruption and have brought security around the country.
“We are trying as much as possible to solve the problems of the people. We are working overtime in every department,” Akhund said, adding that the group had formed committees to try to the resolve the economic crisis and pay salaries to government employees, who have largely gone without pay for months.
A Taliban fighter, foreground, and a group of Afghan men attend Friday prayers in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
(AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
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The United States and other countries have refused to recognize the Taliban government until it includes more of Afghanistan’s ethnic and political spectrum — as well as women — and until it guarantees women’s rights.
A vendor holds a Taliban flag next to the posters of Taliban leaders Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Amir Khan Muttaqi (L) as he waits for customers along a street in Kabul on August 27, 2021, following the Taliban’s military takeover of Afghanistan. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP) (Photo by AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images)
(Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP)
All the ministers in the current Cabinet come from the Taliban’s ranks. The Taliban have not completely barred women from the public sphere as they did during their previous rule in the late 1990s. But they have ordered most women government employees not to come to work and have not let high school girls return to school, though they allowed younger girls.
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Akhund dismissed the demands, saying the government has members from around the country. He insisted the Islamic Emirate — as the Taliban call their government — “has saved women’s dignity.”
