The United Nations says international outrage over the unknown fate of missing Afghan women activists has sparked outrage in the Taliban.
Deborah Lyons, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), met with Amir Khan Mottaqi, the Taliban’s foreign minister, and conveyed the message.
United Nations says the Taliban have assured a solution.
Over the past few days, Lyons has met with a number of senior officials, including Taliban Interior Minister Siraj Haqqani, to determine the fate of the missing girls.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a brief statement late yesterday that the meeting with Mr. Mottaqi had “revealed to him the anger of the international community over the fate of a number of women’s rights activists.”
But the Taliban’s foreign ministry has not yet commented on the visit.
UNAMA said in a statement that Amir Khan Mottaqi had assured the UN envoy that efforts would be made to resolve the issue.
UNAMA welcomes his constructive approach and will continue to work with the Taliban for the rights and well-being of all Afghans.
This is the fifth such meeting in the last few days that UN envoys have met with Taliban leaders in Kabul to seek clarification on the fate of women’s rights activists.
In the past few days, Deborah Lyons has met with the Taliban’s interior minister, the deputy prime minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi, and Maulvi Abdul Kabir.
A statement from UNAMA on Deborah Lyons’ meeting with Maulvi Abdul Kabir warned that international support for Afghanistan would be undermined without respect for the rights of all Afghans.
UNAMA said it had promised to provide information on the women activists.
Women’s rights activists and the families of the missing women activists say the women were captured by the Taliban, but the Taliban deny this and say they are trying to gather information.
But the incompleteness of their information over the course of a few weeks is questionable for some.
Meanwhile, the UN human rights branch has demanded the release of four women activists who were arrested or abducted following protests for women’s rights.
The group said it did not know the whereabouts of the women arrested after participating in a protest on January 16 and called on the Taliban to take immediate action and release them.
According to the United Nations, Parwana Ibrahimkhel and Tamana Paryani were abducted on January 19 and Mursal Ayar and Zahra Mohammadi were arrested last week.
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