The Taliban expanded their interim Cabinet by naming more Ministers on Tuesday, but failed to appoint any women, doubling down on a hard-line course despite the international outcry that followed their initial presentation of an all-male Government lineup earlier this month.
The international community has said it will judge the Taliban by their actions, and that recognition of a Taliban-led Government would be linked to the treatment of women and minorities. In their previous rule of Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the Taliban, who adhere to a harsh interpretation of Islam, had barred girls and women from schools, work and public life.