UK says it’s too early to decide how or if they will work with the Taliban

A spokesperson for the British prime minister has asserted that it is still too early to decide if and how the UK would work with the Taliban to fight Islamic State terrorists in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Boris Johnson said that future British relations with the Taliban – if they are to exist – will depend on the group’s commitment to upholding human rights.

“At this stage it is too early to dictate if and how we would work with the Taliban going forward,” said the spokesperson at a Downing Street press briefing.

“As we have said throughout, we intend to put pressure on them to uphold these standards and claims,” he added, in reference to the risk of human rights abuses – particularly for women – under the reign of the strict Islamic law imposed by the Taliban.

The statement comes one week after an attack at Kabul airport, claimed by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K), which killed up to 170 people. The Islamic State has been known to criticize the Taliban as being apostates and consider the killing of Taliban members legal under their interpretation of Islamic law.

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