As US troops withdraw from Afghanistan, lawmakers fear dark future for women

As US troops withdraws from Afghanistan, members of Congress, many of whom are skeptical about the plans to bring home the 2,500 remaining troops, worry that the departure would cede control to the Taliban, whose 1996-2001 rule severely curtailed activities for Afghan women.

US lawmakers grilled President Joe Biden's Afghanistan peace envoy on Tuesday about how women will be protected if the hard-line Islamist Taliban take control after US troops withdraw, and threatened to withhold funding if rights gains are reversed. "I don’t believe under any circumstances that the United States Senate will support assistance for Afghanistan, especially under the World Bank’s program which provides budget support, if the Taliban has taken a governing role that ends civil society advances and rolls back women’s rights," said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez. ALSO READ: How quitting Afghanistan presents fresh challenges for US?