The US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) published a report on the transparency of governance in Afghanistan, the employment and education of Afghan girls and women, and potential security threats.
The report criticized the IE, saying the IE failed to establish an inclusive government, and the political power in Afghanistan has been monopolized by the head of the ruling system, and he formed a government based on his personal beliefs.
The report reads: “The leadership of the Taliban has given priority to power monopoly and created a government according to his beliefs against a new state. Power is increasingly concentrated in the hands of the Taliban leader, who is based in Kandahar and is supported by a number of ministers and religious figures who align with his ideological vision of governance.”
Although the IE has indicated that the issue of Afghan girls’ education is temporary and they will be allowed to attend their classrooms after the establishment of a suitable environment and mechanism, SIGAR has criticized the continuation of ban on Afghan girls’ education.
SIGAR quoted Rosa Otunbayeva, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Afghanistan, that Afghanistan is the most oppressive country in terms of women’s rights.
The report reads: “The Taliban continued to impose restrictions on Afghan women’s travel, clothing, employment and education, going to institutions and public places. Especially in 2022 after the authorities’ order that forced girls above the sixth grade from education and from working in non-governmental organizations, Roza Otunbayeva called Afghanistan the worst country in the world in terms of women’s rights.”
SIGAR called the security situation in Afghanistan deteriorating day by day and said that the presence of a number of extremist groups, including Al-Qaeda and ISIS, in Afghanistan threatened the security of Afghanistan, but it was said that none of the groups is able to overthrow the IE.
The report reads: “The Taliban are encountering increasing challenges in terms of security in their rule, especially the Khorasan branch of ISIS and different other groups against them, like the resistance front, which in 2021 appeared in Panjsher, although experts believed that none of these groups are capable of overthrowing the Taliban; in February 2023, the United Nations Security Council warned that Afghanistan is the main hideout of terrorist groups for Central and South Asia, including Al-Qaeda, Tahrik-e- Taliban Pakistani and the Khorasan branch of ISIS.”
We asked the opinion of the spokesperson of the IE regarding SIGAR’s recent report, but he did not respond to our repeated communications until the publication of the report.
However, previously, the IE called SIGAR’s reports and the reports of armed groups and similar agencies related to employment and education of Afghan girls and women far from the truth and a product of personal interests.