In their first comments on governance, the Taliban declared an “amnesty” across Afghanistan and urged women to join its government, trying to emolliate nerves across Kabul where women fear recurrence of the dredful regime.
“The Islamic Emirate doesn’t want women to be victims,” said Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban’s cultural commission. “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.”
Major reports of abuses or fighting haven’t yet been reported as people remained confined to their homes and in consternation. Older generations remember their ultraconservative Islamic views, which included stonings, amputations and public executions during their rule before the U.S-led invasion.
Samangani remained vague on other details, however, implying people already knew the rules of Islamic law the Taliban expected them to follow.
“Our people are Muslims and we are not here to force them to Islam,” he said.
Under the Taliban, women were largely confined to their homes as insurgents have tried to project a moderate image since their takeover.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Stefano Pontecorvo, NATO’s senior civilian representative to Afghanistan, posted video online showing the runway empty with American troops on the tarmac. What appeared to be a military cargo plane could be seen in the distance from behind a chain-link fence in the footage.
The runway “is open,” he wrote on Twitter. “I see airplanes landing and taking off.”
Overnight, flight-tracking data showed a U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J Hercules plane at the airport and later taking off for Qatar, home to Al-Udeid Air Base and the U.S. military Central Command’s forward headquarters.
The German Foreign Ministry meanwhile said a first German military transport plane has landed in Kabul, but it could only take seven people on board before it had to depart again.
A special military flight with some 120 Indian officials separately landed in Gujarat after taking off from Kabul’s main airport on Tuesday. Another flight made it off the ground Monday as well.
Sweden’ s Foreign Minister Ann Linde wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that the staff from the Swedish Embassy in Kabul had returned to Sweden.
Across Afghanistan, the International Committee of the Red Cross said thousands had been wounded in the fighting.
“The world is following events in Afghanistan with a heavy heart and deep disquiet about what lies ahead,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
A resolute U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday said he stood “squarely behind” his decision to withdraw American forces. “After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces,” Biden said in a televised address from the White House.
Talks appeared to be continuing between the Taliban and several Afghan government officials, including former President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, who once headed the country’s negotiating council.
An official who spoke on condition of anonymity said senior Taliban leader Amir Khan Muttaqi had arrived in Kabul from Qatar. Muttaqi is a former higher education minister during the Taliban’s last rule.