Afghan supreme leader says women 'saved from oppression' by Taliban
The HinduAfghanistan's supreme leader said Sunday the country's women were being saved from "traditional oppressions" by the adoption of Islamic governance and their status as "free and dignified human beings" restored. In a statement marking this week's Eid al-Adha holiday, Hibatullah Akhundzada – who rarely appears in public and rules by decree from the Taliban's birthplace in Kandahar – said steps had been taken to provide women with a "comfortable and prosperous life according to Islamic Sharia". The United Nations expressed "deep concern" last week that women were being deprived of their rights under Afghanistan's Taliban government and warned of systematic gender apartheid. A report to the UN's Human Rights Council last week by Richard Bennett, the special rapporteur for Afghanistan, said the plight of women and girls in the country "was among the worst in the world".