By Mohammad Yunus Yawar

KABUL (Reuters). – Taliban officials in Afghanistan have dismantled five departments belonging to the U.S.-backed former government. This included the Human Rights Commission. Officials said that they deemed them redundant in light of a tight financial situation.

Taliban authorities announced on Saturday that Afghanistan has a budget deficit worth 44 billion Afghanis (501 million dollars) in the coming financial year.

Innamullah Samangani (the Taliban’s deputy spokesman), stated that these “departments were not deemed necessary” and weren’t included in the budget.

The High Council for National Reconciliation, the former high-powered National Security Council and commission responsible for overseeing implementation of the Afghan constitution was also disbanded.

The HCNR, which was headed last by Abdullah Abdullah (former Afghan President) was working towards a settlement between U.S.-backed President Ashraf Ghani’s government and the Taliban.

Twenty years after the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the foreign forces pulled out from Afghanistan. This led to the fall of the government, and the takeover by the Taliban.

Samangani claimed that the budget for national was “based in objective facts” and only intended to be used by departments that have been productively and actively working.

He said that bodies might be activated in future, “if necessary”.

From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban controlled Afghanistan with an iron fist. They also implemented strict Islamic rules that prohibited women from working and education. They promised that the Taliban would become more moderate after taking power last year.

But, older girls are not allowed to re-enter education. They also have rules that make it mandatory for women and girls to wear veil and require male family members to be with them when they go out in public.