Taliban promises peace, amnesty, rights ‘within Sharia law’ & ‘narcotics-free’ Afghanistan in first intl media press conference

“We have all borders under control,” Mujahid told reporters at the first media conference in Kabul since its takeover by the Taliban. He promised that a government is “seriously” being formed and “it will be announced after completion.”

Amid the ongoing chaos in Afghanistan as the US has struggled to get military allies out of the country as Taliban fighters have moved in on previous strongholds, including the capital city of Kabul, Mujahid said enemies of the Taliban have been “pardoned.”

“We have pardoned everybody for the benefit of stability or peace in Afghanistan,” he said. He added, however, that those who have died in the past few days as the Taliban has reclaimed land hold sole responsibility for their deaths.

“Those whose lives have been lost as a result of fighting for the enemy, this was their own fault. We conquered the whole country in a matter of days,” he said. 

Despite this sentiment, Mujahid assured that translators and allies to the US military will not be interrogated or “treated with revenge.”

“Nobody is going to knock on their door and ask them who they have been working for,” he said, adding that many younger Afghanistan citizens are “assets” that should remain in the country.

Mujahid did not give too many specifics about this new “government” being formed, but he did touch on how some issues would be handled, including press freedom. While Mujahid promised the press can remain “free and independent,” it must also work “within our cultural framework.” 

The Taliban will not, however, accept “any media practices in our country against Islam and Muslims,” Mujahid later promised. 

He similarly said women will have the right to work and study, but only “within our framework,” not specifically explaining what kind of limitations this “framework” will present in this potential new government. 

Womens’ rights, Mujahid said, will be “under the system of [Sharia law],” which many in the international community have argued impedes basic human rights. Mujahid made the diplomatic argument on Tuesday that Afghanistan has no “problems with the international community” and only wants their “right to act according to our religious principles” to be respected. 

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