Australia hits Afghan Taliban officials with sanctions, travel bans

SYDNEY, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Australia on Saturday imposed financial sanctions and travel bans on four officials in Afghanistan's Taliban government over what it said was a deteriorating human rights situation in the country, especially for women and girls.

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the officials were involved "in the oppression of women and girls and in undermining good governance or the rule of law" in the Taliban-run country.

Australia was one of several nations which in August 2021 pulled troops out of Afghanistan, after being part of a NATO-led international force that trained Afghan security forces and fought the Taliban for two decades after Western-backed forces ousted the Islamist militants from power.

The Taliban, since regaining power in Afghanistan, has been criticised for deeply restricting the rights and freedoms of women and girls through bans on education and work.

The Taliban has said it respects women's rights, in line with its interpretation of Islamic law and local custom.

Wong said in a statement the sanctions targeted three Taliban ministers and the group's chief justice, accusing them of restricting access for girls and women "to education, employment, freedom of movement and the ability to participate in public life".

The measures were part of a newAustralian government frameworkthat enabled it to "directly impose its ownsanctionsand travel bans to increase pressure on the Taliban,targetingthe oppression of theAfghanpeople", Wong said.

Australia took in thousands of evacuees, mostly women and children, from Afghanistan after the Taliban retook power in the war-shattered South Asian country, where much of the population now relies on humanitarian aid to survive.

(Reporting by Sam McKeith in Sydney; Editing by Edmund Klamann)