Taliban members break into laughter when asked about democracy and female politicians

In a recent video that has emerged on the internet, Taliban militants can be seen laughing after a journalist asked a question pertaining to democracy and female politicians in the country. 

Uploaded on Twitter by author David Patrikarakos, the video shows a female journalist, asking Taliban members if they would be willing to accept democratic governance that voted in female politicians. 

Women “can get education from primary to higher education — that means university. We have announced this policy at international conferences, the Moscow conference and here at the Doha conference (on Afghanistan),” said Suhail Shaheen, Taliban spokesperson for its political office in Doha

Under the militants’ hardline 1996-2001 rule, girls’ schools were closed, women were prevented from travelling and working, and women were forced to wear an all-covering burqa in public.

Shaheen also indicated that burqa will not be compulsory for women but a hijab would be.

“The burqa is not the only hijab (headscarf) that (can) be observed, there is different types of hijab not limited to burqa,” Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the group’s political office in Doha, told Britain’s Sky News.