UNSC calls on Taliban to drop 'unfathomable' restrictions on women

The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday decried increasing restrictions on women's rights in Afghanistan, urging the country's Taliban rulers to reverse them immediately.

The Security Council "reiterated its deep concern of the suspension of schools beyond the sixth grade, and its call for the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan," it said in a press statement.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker pointed to "terrible consequences" of a decision to bar women from working for non-governmental organizations.

Last week, Taliban authorities stopped university education for women, sparking international outrage and demonstrations in Afghan cities. On Saturday, they announced the exclusion of women from NGO work, a move that already has prompted four major international aid agencies to suspend operations in Afghanistan.

"No country can develop indeed survive socially and economically with half its population excluded," U.N. High Commissione