one year ago, i spoke with taliban leader suhail shaheen in doha just before the takeover.red me that they would protect the rights of women and that the new regime would be different from what we saw in the 90s. there was in the past some mistakes that we have learned from to stop education of women and girls. that is not our goal. of course, education is their right and it is much needed. and when they receive education, of course it is, they have a right to work. how has that promise turned out? that evening, i met a group of women who used to hold positions of power in the former government. but since losing theirjobs, they've shifted their attention to investigating various cases of missing women like alia azizi. it was becoming clear that disappearing women was not uncommon in today's afghanistan. as the activist said, there are reports of many more cases happening around the country. it's impossible to find a credible statistic on the number of women forcibly disappeared in afghanistan, mainly because the taliban have continued to deny such cases. when the taliban ca

i took a call from the taliban spokesperson suhail shaheen — who gave these assurances to the afghant. can you just help us understand what the taliban plan to do at present and next? erm, yes, there should not be any confusion. in kabul. we assure the people, particularly in the city of kabul, that their properties, their lives are safe. there will be no revenge on anyone. the city and the power should be handed over to the islamic emirate of afghanistan. and then in future, we will have an afghan—inclusive islamic government in which all afghans will have participation. i also asked him whether women's rights would be respected. this was his response. the policy is that women can have access to education and to work, and of course, they will observe the hijab. that is it. i also asked mr shahin about whether people who had worked for the afghan government before the takeover would face retaliation. in the next few days we want a peaceful transfer and people can resume their normal activities and all those working with the kabul administration of the foreign forces, there will be no