After sweeping through the country, the Taliban’s primary spokesman has said the conservative fundamentalist religious regime will respect the rights of women in Afghanistan, even though it notoriously punished women who demonstrated independence during its last reign, the Associated Press reports.

In an apparent attempt to mollify fears of Afghans and international observers, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said that the theocratic rulers will honor women’s rights within the framework of Islamic law.  He did not explain what that meant nor did he detail what behaviors will be deemed acceptable.

Mujahid also said that the Taliban would not seek revenge on Afghans who worked with American soldiers and contractors or those who were part of the previous government, offering amnesty to them.  He claimed “nobody will go to their doors to ask why they helped.”

Around the country, groups of men have reportedly been harassing, assaulting and even murdering women who took on independent lifestyles and people who worked for the previous government during the American occupation of Afghanistan.  Mujahid said it was unclear who these men were and that they were not operating with the blessing of the new rulers.  He commented that more conservative rural areas have various ways of treating women.

Mujahid also said that the Taliban would not allow Afghanistan to be used by a terrorist group to launch attacks on foreign soil, a provision of the peace pact the Taliban made with the Trump Administration.