US lays out conditions for recognising a new Afghan gov’t

State Department says any new administration in Kabul must respect human rights, including rights of women.

The United States has called for an inclusive new government in Afghanistan that respects human rights, including women’s rights, saying that the Taliban’s behaviour will determine whether Washington will recognise any new administration in Kabul. US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Monday that the US and its international allies would be “watching closely” after the Taliban took over the country in a blistering offensive, seizing control of the capital on Sunday. “A future Afghan government that upholds the basic rights of its people, that doesn’t harbour terrorists, and that protects the basic rights of its people, including the basic, fundamental rights of half of its population – its women and girls – that is a government that we would be able to work with,” Price said during a news briefing.