Taliban dissolve Afghan Human Rights Commission and other key bodies

The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have dissolved five key departments in the previous US-backed government, including the Human Rights Commission, as they were deemed unnecessary in the face of a financial crisis, an official said on Monday.

The Taliban authorities said on Saturday that Afghanistan faces a budget deficit of 44 billion Afghanis ($501 million) in the current fiscal year, when it announced its first annual national budget since it took power last August in the war-torn country.

"Because these departments were deemed unnecessary and not included in the budget, they were dissolved," Taliban government deputy spokesman Enamullah Semankani told Reuters.

The Supreme Council for National Reconciliation, the once high-ranking National Security Council and the committee overseeing implementation of the Afghan constitution, was also dissolved.

The last head of the council was former Afghan President Abdullah Abdullah, who was working to negotiate peace between the US-backed government of former President Ashraf Ghani and the then Taliban insurgent movement.

In August 2021, 20 years after the invasion of Afghanistan, foreign forces withdrew from the country, leading to the collapse of the government and the Taliban's seizure of power.

Semnakani said the national budget is "based on objective facts" and is only allocated to departments that have been active and productive.

He added that the bodies could be reactivated in the future "if necessary".

The Taliban ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 with an iron fist and implemented a hardline version of Islamic rule, including banning women from education and work.

After taking charge last year, the Taliban assured the world that they would be more moderate.

But it has not yet allowed older girls to resume education, and has also set rules requiring women and girls to wear the headscarf and requiring them to accompany their male relatives in public.

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