Taliban Shoots Woman Dead For Not Wearing Burqa

KEY POINTS

An Afghan woman was shot and killed by the Taliban for not wearing a burqa while out in public
A photo of the incident showed a woman lying in a pool of blood with people gathered around her
The incident happened on the same day the group vowed to respect women's rights

A woman from Afghanistan's Takhar province who went out in public without a burqa was shot and killed by members of the Taliban Tuesday — the same day the Islamic terrorist group vowed to respect women's rights.

A photo of the incident in Taloqan district showed the unidentified woman lying in a pool of blood as her parents and other people gathered around her body following her execution for not wearing a head covering, Fox News reported.

The killing happened after the Taliban entered the Afghan capital of Kabul Sunday and overthrew the government, which no longer had the assistance of its former western allies following their military withdrawal from the country.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s longtime spokesman, vowed Tuesday that the country's new de facto rulers would respect women's rights within the norms of their interpretation of Sharia law, but he did not elaborate further. The group also encouraged women to return to work and have allowed girls to return to school.

The streets of Kabul, however, were reportedly empty of women after the group took power. The Taliban's previous rule saw women confined to their homes and television and music banned before the U.S.-led war that started in 2001 drove the group away from power.

Then-President George W. Bush had ordered the attack following the Sept. 11 bombings, which terrorist group Al-Qaeda orchestrated from Afghanistan while being sheltered by the Taliban.

Despite its nearly two-decade-long conflict with the U.S., Mujahid said that the Taliban wished for peaceful relations with other countries and that no group will be allowed to use the country's territory for attacks against any nation.

"I would like to assure to assure the international community, including the United States, that nobody will be harmed," Mujahid said.

"We don't want any internal or external enemies," he added.

About 100 staff members of the United Nations moved out of Afghanistan to Kazakhstan a day after Mujahid announced the Taliban’s intentions for peaceful relations.

"This is a temporary measure intended to enable the UN to keep delivering assistance to the people of Afghanistan with the minimum of disruption while, at the same time, reducing risk to UN personnel," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Other countries, meanwhile, have closed their embassies or ended their diplomatic missions in Afghanistan.