Curbs on Women to Be Eased, Talibs Say

A Taliban leader said restrictions on women that have prompted international condemnation could be lifted once the Islamic group has consolidated its hold over Kabul, the Afghan capital. The Taliban militia seized Kabul on Sept. 27, ousting the government in a campaign to install strict Islamic rule. The militia closed girls’ schools and banned women from working. But the pledges to ease restrictions contrast with the Taliban’s record elsewhere. In Kandahar, where the Taliban have held control for two years, schools are only open to girls ages 4 to 8, and they receive only enough instruction to enable them to study the Koran, the Islamic holy book.