Taliban rule presents aid agencies with moral, fiscal dilemma


FILE PHOTO: International Monetary Fund logo is seen outside its headquarters during the IMF/World Bank spring meetings in Washington, U.S., April 20, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As foreign governments, aid institutions and companies scramble to evacuate staff from Afghanistan, a crucial question is emerging: should they engage with the ruling Taliban or abandon years of investment in the country and 38 million Afghans?

The Taliban in the past week has pledged peaceful relations with other countries, women's rights and independent media but some former diplomats and academics said the Islamist militant group, while more media and internet savvy than the Taliban of the 1990s, is just as brutal.

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