Afghanistan seeks more women to join its army

Afghanistan has announced fresh initiatives to bring more women into the army, weeks after the country's first female pilot sparked a national debate on insecurity and women's rights by seeking asylum in the US

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Kabul: Afghanistan has announced fresh initiatives to bring more women into the army, weeks after the country's first female pilot sparked a national debate on insecurity and women's rights by seeking asylum in the US.

The defence ministry wants to boost the proportion of women in the army to 10 per cent, deputy ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanesh said, confirming a slew of incentives including a special salary scale for female recruits.

"At this stage, we have 1,575 Afghan women in our army ranks, it is mere three to four percent which is nothing," Radmanesh said. "We are aiming to raise this percentage to 10 percent."

Fifteen years after the end of the Taliban regime, gender equality remains a distant dream in Afghanistan despite claims of progress.

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