WASHINGTON, United States - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated Tuesday that any greater relationship with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers was contingent on improving treatment of women, two years after the movement toppled the US-backed government.
No country has recognized the Taliban government, and the United States has avoided direct economic engagement in part over what critics call a return to"gender apartheid," with women and girls squeezed out of schools and public spaces.
"We've been very clear with the Taliban -- and dozens of countries around the world have been very clear -- that the path to any more normal relationship between the Taliban and other countries will be blocked unless and until the rights of women and girls among other things are actually supported," Blinken said.
The Biden administration did not mark the anniversary, but Blinken, responding to a question, defended the pullout and said the United States was not focused on other priorities.
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