US, allies call on Taliban to reopen girls schools in Afghanistan
India Today
The United States and its allies have urged the Taliban to reopen Afghan girls' schools.
The United States and other Western countries on Thursday condemned the Taliban's decision to shut girls' secondary schools in Afghanistan just hours after reopening them, and urged the hardline Islamist movement to reverse course.
The joint statement from the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Norway and the US, plus the high representative of the European Union, said the decision Wednesday by the Taliban will harm the group's prospects for legitimacy and Afghanistan's "ambition to become a respected member in the community of nations."
"The Taliban's action contradicted its public assurances to the Afghan people and to the international community," the Western nations said in their statement.
They called on the Taliban, which seized power last August as US forces withdrew from the country, "urgently to reverse this decision, which will have consequences far beyond its harm to Afghan girls."
"Unreversed, it will profoundly harm Afghanistan's prospects for social cohesion and economic growth."
The signatories to the statement notably included Norway, which hosted landmark talks between the Taliban and several Western diplomats in January.
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