WITHDRAWAL ‘RISKS 20 YEARS OF PROGRESS FOR AFGHAN FEMALES’
Intelligence director’s report says Taliban would seek to reverse rights gained over decades
A US intelligence report released this week says the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan by September will undermine women’s rights and strengthen the Taliban.
The two-page report from the director of national intelligence says that the progress made in empowering Afghan women over the last two decades is at risk.
“Progress probably owes more to external pressure than domestic support, suggesting it would be at risk after coalition withdrawal, even without Taliban efforts to reverse it,” the report says.
It says that the Taliban, if it regains the power it lost after 2002, will definitely reverse minimal gains in women’s rights.
“The Taliban remains broadly consistent in its restrictive approach to women’s rights and would roll back much of the past two decades’ progress if the group regained national power,” it reads.
But US intelligence agencies say the international community will be able to use considerable leverage to prevent such a reversal.
“The Taliban’s desires for foreign aid and legitimacy might marginally moderate its conduct over time,” says the report.
“However, in the early days of re-establishing its emirate, the Taliban probably would focus on extending control on its own terms.”
According to the report, roughly 3.5 million of the 9 million pupils enrolled in school in Afghanistan are girls.
However, the gap between rural and urban parts of the country remains significant. Only 17 per cent of girls living in rural areas attend secondary school, compared to 45 per cent in urban areas. More than 80 per cent of Afghan women over the age of 15 are illiterate, the report says.
The warning from US intelligence agencies follows statements by military leaders, who believe there is a risk of Al Qaeda returning to Afghanistan after the withdrawal.
Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, last week outlined a “worstcase” scenario in Afghanistan following the withdrawal, describing a potential civil war that would allow for the return of Al Qaeda.
But despite these red flags, the Biden administration is carrying on with its plans to end America’s longest war and complete the withdrawal by September 11.
On Monday, the US handed over a military base in southern Afghanistan while Afghan and Taliban forces clashed in the same area.
The US Air Force announced on Wednesday that more B-52 aircraft have arrived at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar to enable the withdrawal.
“The bombers join the four B-52 aircraft that previously arrived to Al Udeid in late April as they protect the orderly and responsible withdrawal of US and coalition forces from Afghanistan,” the US military said.
The Taliban remains broadly consistent in its restrictive approach to women’s rights and would roll back progress US INTELLIGENCE REPORT