Afghan Taliban supporters rally against ICC arrest warrant requests

Some 200 Taliban supporters rallied in central Afghanistan on Sunday against the International Criminal Court chief prosecutor's request for arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders.

The rally followed the announcement by the ICC on Thursday that chief prosecutor Karim Khan was seeking arrest warrants for Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani over the persecution of women.

The Taliban government has imposed a raft of restrictions on women and girls, which the United Nations has described as "gender apartheid", since sweeping back to power in 2021.

Demonstrators in Ghazni city condemned Khan's move, chanting slogans that included "Death to America" and "long live the Islamic Emirate" -- the Taliban authorities' name for their government.

"We have gathered here to show the West that their decision is cruel and rejected by Afghans," said Ghazni resident Noorulhaq Omar.

"It will never be accepted because the Afghan nation will sacrifice their life for their emir," he said, referring to Akhundzada.

Hamidullah Nisar, Ghazni province's head of the information and culture department, joined residents at the rally.

"We totally reject what the ICC has said against the leadership of the Islamic Emirate, and we want them to take back their words," he said.

Most demonstrations have been suppressed in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, with the exception of those by the authorities' supporters.

Afghanistan's Taliban government dismissed Khan's arrest warrant requests on Friday as "politically motivated".

Rights groups and activists have praised the ICC move.