Islamabad, Sept. 13, (dpa/GNA) – The United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Monday said that three of its female Afghan staff had been temporarily detained by armed Taliban security agents in the country.
In a statement, UNAMA called on the Taliban to immediately end the intimidation of the UN’s female Afghan staff.
“The UN calls for an immediate end to all such acts of intimidation and harassment targeting its Afghan female staff, calling on the de facto authorities to reiterate and enforce explicit guarantees for the safety and security of all UN personnel operating in Afghanistan,” the statement added.
Taliban government deputy spokesman Bilal Karimi rejected the UN allegations in a statement sent out to journalists.
Karimi said the group’s religious police – known as the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice officers – asked for information from a gathering of women in the country’s southern province of Kandahar.
“When it became clear that there were women belonging to the United Nations, they withdrew and no problem arose,” he further said.
Since returning to power last year, the Taliban have curtailed women’s rights in the country and refused to form a representative government. As a result, no country has recognized its government.
The UN agencies in the crisis-hit country are delivering humanitarian aid to meet Afghans’ urgent needs.
GNA