Taliban names deputy ministers, double down on all-male cabinet
Al Jazeera
Taliban includes ethnic minorities in the cabinet, but fails to appoint any women despite calls for inclusivity.
The Taliban government has expanded its interim cabinet by naming deputy ministers on Tuesday. But it failed to appoint any women, doubling down on a hardline course despite the international outcry that followed their initial presentation of an all-male cabinet lineup earlier this month.
The international community has warned that it will judge the Taliban by its actions, and that recognition of a Taliban-led government would be linked to the treatment of women and minorities. In its previous rule of Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the Taliban had barred girls and women from schools, work and public life.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid defended the latest additions to the cabinet at a news conference on Tuesday, saying it included members of ethnic minorities, such as the Hazaras, and that women might be added later.
