Mahinda Rajapaksa speaks to Hamid Karzai, reaffirms Sri Lanka's support for Afghans

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on August 18 reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s continued support to the people of Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover. The insurgent group had hijacked Kabul on Sunday after the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country. Currently, the situation in Afghanistan is unstable and the Taliban leaders, on the other hand, are discussing future government plans in Doha as they are looking to run the country on their own set of rules.

While taking to Twitter, Rajapaksa informed that he spoke to former Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a bid to inquire about the ongoing developments unfolding in the war-torn country and further reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s support for Afghans. 

Afghanistan awaits a new government 

Meanwhile, in the first sign of engagement with the Taliban since the ouster of the Afghanistan government, key political leaders such as Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah met Anas Haqqani on Wednesday. The former Afghanistan president has formed a Coordination Council along with High Council for National Reconciliation of Afghanistan chairman Abdullah Abdullah and former Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar to ensure a peaceful transfer of power. However, talks between the two sides were stuck owing to certain "unacceptable conditions" imposed by the Taliban.

Now, there are talks on the Taliban's top leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar likely to become the next President of the ‘Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.' Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar is the co-founder and political chief of the terrorist group headed by Haibatullah Akhundzada. Taliban has asserted that the terror outfit does not intend to take revenge on anyone. Promising that the foreign embassies in Kabul will be given full security, he also claimed that women will enjoy all rights "within the framework of Islam."

The last time the Taliban was in control of the country in 1996-2001, a severe clampdown on the freedom and security of women was witnessed in Afghanistan. The extremist group had enforced stringent rules for women based on their interpretation of Islamic law, stopping women from leaving the house without the company of a male relative. The group had also banned girls from attending school and women from working outside the home. They were also banned from voting.

(Image: AP)