Afghanistan's Taliban rulers score diplomatic wins, consolidate power

Taliban government in Afghanistan seeks international recognition through diplomatic wins, despite strict Islamic rule and humanitarian concerns.

Three years into its rule of Afghanistan, the Taliban government has achieved some diplomatic wins even as it has consolidated power and enforced its strict version of Islamic law.

The Taliban rulers continue to operate without official recognition from any country — its restrictions on women a major sticking point.

But concern over Afghanistan's worsening humanitarian crisis, the threat of terrorism, and hard-nosed pragmatism have led to some international engagement.

The most notable example was the Taliban government's participation, for the first time, in United Nations-hosted talks in June in Qatar to discuss economic issues and counter-narcotics efforts.

Chief Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, who led the delegation, said the gathering was further proof that: "Afghanistan has come out of isolation".

"We are in favour of positive meetings with the condition that Afghanistan's situation is taken into account," he said in a recent interview ahead of this week's three-year anniversary of the Taliban taking back power.

The talks went ahead after Kabul obtained the agreement of the UN — which has described restrictions on women in Afghanistan as "gender apartheid" — that civil society and women's rights groups would not attend.