The UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, has urged the Taliban to respect the rights of women as well as ethnic and religious minorities.

“A fundamental red line will be the Taliban’s treatment of women and girls,” she told an emergency session on Afghanistan.

This included “respect for their rights to liberty, freedom of movement, education, self expression and employment”.

Rights groups fear women’s freedoms could be eroded under the rule of the Islamist group.

And in a press conference last week, the Taliban said women’s rights would be respected “within the framework of Islamic law”.

culled from BBC NEWS