Taliban defends record on women as UN looks at path forward

An Afghan woman walks among Taliban soldiers at a checkpoint in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 6, 2023. REUTERS/Ali Khara/File Photo

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban-led administration is "obligated" to consider religious values and will not allow interference in internal affairs, it has told the United Nations in response to an assessment on how the world could deal with the Islamists.

The U.N. Security Council asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for the independent assessment, which was submitted this month. It proposes a path for political engagement aimed at reintegrating Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power in August 2021 as U.S.-led forces withdrew after 20 years of war.