Karen Decker, the US Chargé d'Affaires for Afghanistan, has said that the US will "hold accountable" two Taliban officials for violating the rights of half of the Afghan population.

Earlier, the US Treasury Department had imposed sanctions on Khalid Hanafi, Taliban’s Minister of the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, and Fariduddin Mahmood, head of the Afghanistan Academy of Sciences.

On Saturday, Decker wrote on X social media platform that Hanafi and Mahmood are complicit in serious human rights abuses against women and girls in Afghanistan.

On Friday, the US Treasury Department stated that these two Taliban officials are supporters of the prohibition on girls' education beyond the sixth grade.

Hanafi and Mahmood are among the people close to Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the leader of the Taliban.

These two senior Taliban officials are among the five members opposing the reopening of girls' schools due to their extreme views.

Following the takeover of power in Afghanistan, the Taliban closed girls' schools beyond the sixth grade and banned girls from attending university.

Taliban’s Ministry of Propagation of Virtues and Prevention of Vice has imposed strict regulations against women over the past two years. The ministry has banned women from traveling, going to parks, and restaurants, and taking part in sports activities.

In addition, the Taliban has consistently suppressed women's protests, arrested women's rights activists, and subjected them to torture.