Washington, (AFP) - The United States announced Tuesday that it has imposed new sanctions on the Taliban movement over the extremist Islamist movement's violation of the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

In a statement he issued on the 10th anniversary of the International Day of the Girl, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "Today I'm announcing visa restrictions for... current and former Taliban members and other individuals responsible for or complicit in the oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan through restrictive policies and violence." .

He added that Afghanistan has been "for a year, the only country in the world in which girls are systematically prevented from attending school after the sixth grade, without any date on the horizon" for the Taliban to reverse this decision.

Since the United States' withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban's restoration of power in Kabul on August 15, 2021, the hardline Islamic movement has prevented secondary and secondary school students in the country from returning to their schools.

On the other hand, the movement allowed female university students to complete their studies, but under strict conditions.
Girls' education is a very sensitive issue in Afghanistan.

In his statement, Blinken said, "We call on other governments to join us in taking similar actions and continuing to affirm the collective message that an Afghan government that can be considered legitimate is one that represents all of its people and that protects and promotes the human rights of every individual."

" The United States strongly supports the Afghan people, and remains committed to doing everything in its power to protect and promote the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Afghans, including women and girls," he added.

Barely a few weeks after taking power, the Taliban imposed severe restrictions on women and girls in the country, keeping them out of public life, in accordance with their strict interpretation of Islamic law.

At the end of September, at least 53 people, including no less than 46 girls and young women, were killed in a suicide attack targeting an educational center crowded with students in a Kabul neighborhood whose residents belong to the Shiite Hazara minority, according to a toll published by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.