Taliban Declare Amnesty for Afghan Officials, Want Women in Gov’t

The Taliban have declared a general amnesty for all Afghanistan government officials and have called on them to return to work. The call comes less than two days after Taliban fighters entered the Presidential Palace and declared the war in Afghanistan over. The Taliban reportedly are still negotiating a formal handover deal with the country’s political leaders. Meanwhile, Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban’s cultural commission, said that women should join their new government. He also called on “all sides” to join the new government. At the same time, shops in Kabul selling burqas were doing a brisk business and fewer women were seen on Kabul streets on Tuesday, according to reports. During a UN Security Council meeting on Monday on the crisis in Afghanistan, the country’s UN Ambassador Ghulam Isaczai said Kabul residents reported that members of the Taliban had begun house-to-house searches looking for people who cooperated with the government. He also said that he had received reports of targeted killings and lootings in the capital city. US President Joe Biden, in a televised speech from the East Room of the White House Monday afternoon, said that “I stand squarely behind my decision” to pull US troops out of Afghanistan and that he would not “shrink from my share of responsibility for where we are today.” Biden acknowledged that his administration did not anticipate the quick collapse of the government in the face of the Taliban offensive. The US Democratic leadership noted that the withdrawal agreement was originally negotiated by former President Donald Trump.