KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Qatar’s top diplomat said Thursday that experts are racing to reopen Kabul’s airport but warned it was not clear when flights would resume, with many still desperate to flee Afghanistan’s new Taliban leaders amid concerns over what their rule will hold.
In the wake of their rapid takeover, the Taliban have sought to calm those fears, including pledging to let women and girls attend school and allow people to travel freely. But many are skeptical, and Britain’s foreign minister stressed the importance of engaging with the new rulers to test their promises.
In a reflection of those anxieties, dozens of women protested outside the governor’s office in the western province of Herat to demand their rights be protected. They shouted slogans and urged the country’s new leaders to include women in their Cabinet – a remarkable demonstration of the transformation in women’s lives in the past 20 years.
When they last held power in the late 1990s, the Taliban imposed a repressive rule, meting out draconian punishments and largely excluding women from public life. On Thursday, Taliban fighters prevented the female demonstrators from seeing the governor as they demanded, but they did not break up the rally.
Amid uncertainty about Afghanistan’s future, tens of thousands raced to flee the country in a frantic U.S.-run airlift that ended ahead of the final American withdrawal earlier this week. A suicide bomber targeted the evacuation efforts at one point, killing 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.