UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made a dramatic offer on behalf of the G7 to the Taliban , saying the West would unfreeze hundreds of millions of pounds in funding if the group agreed to a string of conditions.
Despite failing to secure an extension to the August 31 withdrawal deadline, the Prime Minister claimed the G7’s ‘considerable influence’ could help bring the Taliban to heel.
Mr Johnson, who hosted an emergency virtual G7 meeting Tuesday night, said the powers would allow Afghanistan’s new leaders to access frozen funds if they allowed girls to be educated, prevented the country from becoming a breeding ground for terror and cracked down on the heroin trade.
Many of those fleeing the country since the Taliban took over have been educated people, especially women. The last time the Taliban ruled, women were banned from working and forbidden to attend schools and universities.
Mujahid also gave reassurances that foreign embassies and aid agencies would remain open.
But experts remain dubious of such pledges amid reports of human rights abuses and concerns that the situation will deteriorate further once most of the international community leaves the country.
G7 leaders were meeting Tuesday in the first such international forum since the Taliban toppled the internationally-backed Afghan government more than a week ago.
They have called on the Taliban to guarantee safe passage for all those wishing to leave Afghanistan after August 31, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday, describing this as the G7’s “number one condition” for the Taliban.
