Monday marks one year since the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan. But Taliban rulers remain under growing international criticism for restricting the rights of girls and women.

The Islamist group took over the capital, Kabul, on August 15, 2021 amid the withdrawal of US forces from the country.

Taliban leaders resumed governance in accordance with their interpretations of Islamic law. They decreed earlier this year that women must cover themselves from head to toe, including their faces, when they are in public.

The rulers have also not allowed girls to attend secondary schools. They say the correct environment should be prepared first.

The Taliban have failed to fulfill repeated demands by the United Nations and others that they should improve the situation. No country outside Afghanistan has recognized the legitimacy of the Taliban rule.

Afghanistan's economy is in dire straits as it has not been able to receive international aid, which had constituted large shares of the country's national budgets even before the Taliban takeover.

Afghanistan is also facing grave food shortages. The World Food Programme said in May that 18.9 million people in the country were facing acute food insecurity. That translates to half its population.

Taliban leaders are seeking international financial assistance and also calling for Afghanistan's frozen assets overseas to be freed up. The assets in the United States and elsewhere were frozen following the Taliban takeover.