Any Afghan govt has to uphold human rights for international legitimacy: US

 United States has warned the Taliban that any government that does not respect human rights and seeks to rule at the barrel of a gun will lack international legitimacy

The United States has warned the Taliban that any government that does not respect human rights and seeks to rule at the barrel of a gun will lack international legitimacy. The Taliban militants have seized dozens of districts in recent weeks and are now thought to control about a third of Afghanistan, ahead of the withdrawal of US and Western troops from the country by September 11. Under a deal with the Taliban, the US and its NATO allies agreed to withdraw all troops in return for a commitment by the militants that they would prevent extremist groups from operating in areas they control. “The United States has for two decades now worked with the government of Afghanistan and the people of Afghanistan to support the hard-won gains, including those by Afghanistan’s women and Afghanistan’s girls,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday.

The United States has played a pivotal role in this, he said, adding that the country has provided humanitarian and development assistance. He added that the US embassy on the ground has and will continue to be a partner for Afghan civil society, knowing just how important it is, and knowing the gains that have been achieved over the course of the past 20 years “The point that we have been making is that any government that comes to power in Afghanistan, that doesn’t protect those gains, does not respect human rights, that seeks to rule at the barrel of a gun will not be a government that has legitimacy either on the part of the Afghan people or from the Afghan or from the international community,” Price said in response to a question….