Afghanistan commercial flights resume as UN accuses Taliban of harassment

The first international commercial flight under Afghanistan's new Taliban interim government departed Kabul on Thursday carrying more than 100 foreigners, including some US citizens left behind after last month's chaotic Western airlift. The flight marked an important step in the Taliban's efforts to create a functioning state after they seized power last month, although there were growing reports of violence against women, foreigners and journalists at the hands of the Islamists. UN Special Envoy on Afghanistan Deborah Lyons told the Security Council that nongovernmental organisations supporting women were being targeted, women's freedoms had been restricted and the United Nations' Afghan staff were being harassed and intimidated. "The UN cannot conduct its work - work that is so essential to the Afghan people - if its personnel are subjected to intimidation, fear for their lives, and cannot move freely," Lyons told the Security Council.<br/>