Filenews 17 August 2021
The Taliban have ordered their fighters to maintain discipline and not to enter any diplomatic missions buildings or harass embassy vehicles, while calling on citizens to continue their daily activities as usual, a high-ranking official of the organisation said today.
"Taliban members were ordered at all levels to ensure that we respect the presence of all countries in Afghanistan," said the senior official, who asked not to be named. Moreover, the UN's children's agency, UNICEF, has announced that it is still delivering aid to most parts of Afghanistan and that it hopes to cooperate with Taliban representatives.
UNICEF's head of operations in Afghanistan Mustafa Ben Mesaoud said during a UN briefing in Geneva that "we have talks that are ongoing, we are quite optimistic based on these talks. We don't have a single issue with the Taliban in the offices we have on the ground."
He also said Taliban representatives in some parts of Afghanistan were in favour of educating girls. In particular, some of the local Taliban representatives said they expect guidance from their leaders on this issue, while others said they want schools for girls. "We are cautiously optimistic that we will move forward," Mustafa Ben Mesaud said at a briefing for reporters in Geneva.
(CNA
