Watched by the world, Taliban returns to power in Afghanistan

Foreign countries greeted the makeup of the new government in Afghanistan with caution and dismay on Wednesday after the Taliban appointed hardline veteran figures to top positions, including several with a U.S. bounty on their head.

The appointments were widely seenas a signal that the group was not looking to broaden its base and present a more tolerant face to the world, especially around concerns about women's rights in the country.

The last time the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, from 1996 to2001, women were banned from working and girls from attending school. Thegroup carried out public executions andenforced a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Thoughnew leaders have vowed to respect people's rights,including those of women, in accordance withShariah, thosewho have won greater freedoms over the last two decades areworried about losing them, seemingly for good reason.

Taliban announce cricket ban for women

On Wednesday, a senior Talibanofficial told Australia's SBS News that women in Afghanistan would no longer be allowed to play cricketand possibly any other sport because itwas "not necessary" and because their bodies might be exposed.

In Kabul, a group of women holdingsigns that read"A cabinetwithout women is a failure" held another protest in the Pul-eSurkh area of the city.

Larger demonstrations on Tuesday werebroken up when the Taliban fired warning shots into the air.

"The cabinet was announced and there were no women in thecabinet. And some journalists who came to cover the protest wereall arrested and taken to the police station," said a woman in avideo shared on social media.

WATCH |Women's rights threatened in Afghanistan:

Women's rights threatened in Afghanistan

3 years ago

Duration 7:31

Taliban advances are raising fears that women's rights could be eliminated in Afghanistan. During their rule from 1996-2001, the Taliban closed schools for girls, and women were not allowed to work in most professions.

Exiled officialscalled back

Tens of thousands of people whofledafter the Taliban seizedpower in mid-Augustwere professionals fearing reprisals because of theirassociation with the previous Western-backed government.

But for theAfghans who stayed, more pressing than the composition of thecabinet was the economic fallout of the chaos triggered by theTaliban's conquest.

People urged the new leadersto revive theAfghan economy, which faces steep inflation, food shortages exacerbated by drought and the prospect of international aidbeing slashed as countries distance themselves from the Taliban.

As the newly appointed ministers and their deputies set towork after they were named lateTuesday, acting premierMohammad Hasan Akhund urged former officials who fledAfghanistan to return, saying their safety would be guaranteed.

"We have suffered heavy losses for this historic moment andthe era of bloodshed in Afghanistan is over," he told AlJazeera.

The group has promised to respect people's rights and notseek vendettas, but it has been criticized for its heavy-handedresponse to protests and its part in a chaotic evacuation ofthousands of people from Kabul airport.

Zaki Daryabi, head of the daily newspaper Etilaatroz, saidsome of his reporters had been beaten while covering Tuesday'sprotests.

A statement from the new Taliban interior ministry said thatin order to avoid disturbances and security problems anyoneholding a demonstration should apply for clearance 24 hoursbeforehand.

Global reaction

Meanwhile, the global communityreactedto the governmentappointmentswith dismay and caution.

"We're assessing the announcement, but despite professingthat a new government would be inclusive, the announced list ofnames consists exclusively of individuals who are members of theTaliban or their close associates, and no women," said U.S. Secretaryof State Antony Blinken.

While visiting a U.S. air base in Germany that has been a transitpoint for evacuees from Afghanistan, Blinken said Washington was "concerned by the affiliations and trackrecords of some of those individuals."

The new acting cabinet includes former detainees of U.S.military prison Guantanamo Bay, while the interior minister,Sirajuddin Haqqani, is wanted by the United States on terrorismcharges and carries a bounty of $10 million.

His uncle, with a bounty of $5 million, is the minister forrefugees and repatriation.

The Taliban's victory has presenteda dilemmato the rest of the world, whichwants to keep aid flowing and help those who want to leave. But in order to do so, they may have toengage with a movement that, until a few weeks ago, was aninsurgency blamed for thousands of civilian deaths.

The European Union voiced disapproval oftheappointments, but said it was ready to continue humanitarian assistance. Longer term aid would depend on whetherthe Talibanupholdsbasic freedoms.