ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Since seizing power in 2021, Afghanistan's Taliban administration has rolled back hard-fought rights won by Afghan women and girls during two decades of rule by American-backed governments.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor said on Thursday he had applied for arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's Taliban government announced the release of 2 Americans in a prisoner exchange. Ryan Corbett's family says he's one of them.

In the very last hours of President Joe Biden’s time in office, a prisoner exchange years in the making was finally struck: the Taliban agreed to swap two Americans being held in Afghanistan for one Taliban member serving a life sentence in a US prison.

Two Americans have been freed in a prisoner swap between the U.S. and Afghanistan’s Taliban in exchange for a Taliban figure, officials said Tuesday.

Afghans who fled after the Taliban seized power have appealed to President Donald Trump to exempt them from an order suspending the relocation of refugees to the United States, some saying they risked their lives to support U.

The Taliban won’t return any of the military equipment left behind by the US troops while exiting Afghanistan in 2021, a person familiar with the matter said, as relations between Kabul and the Donald Trump administration start on a wobbly note.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor on Thursday said he had applied for arrest warrants for Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, including supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, accusing them of crimes against humanity for widespread discrimination against women and girls.

The family thanked both the Biden and Trump administrations for "countless hours of negotiations, unwavering support, and determination."

The Taliban authorities that rule Afghanistan have imposed a severe interpretation of Islamic law on the population, heavily restricting all aspects of women's lives. The government claims it secures Afghan women's rights under Sharia law,

An Afghan women’s group on Friday hailed a decision by the International Criminal Court to arrest Taliban leaders for their persecution of women. The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan announced Thursday he had requested arrest warrants for two top Taliban officials,