AS this city's thousands of women doctors, teachers, and "other professionals start a second week at home, Western aid agents have decided not to confront the new Taliban authorities over their ban on working women and its closure of girls' schools.
After two long and agonised meetings, the various non governmental organisations operating in Afghanistan are taking a softly softly approach in a joint statement which will be handed today to Mullah Mohammad Ghaus, the acting foreign minister in the new caretaker government.
Mullah Ghaus, who also belongs to Taliban's six man ruling council, yesterday gave the first press conference by a member of the body since they captured Kabul 10 days ago. He made it clear that the caretaker government wants international goodwill.
We hope all countries will take an active part in the reconstruction of our country. Without foreign assistance it will be hard for Afghanistan to stand on its feet," he said.
Mullah Ghaos repeatedly pleaded for aid, saying it had been wrong for the outside world to "neglect" Afghanistan after the Soviet Union was forced to withdraw. Although he implied that Afghanistan could not accept any conditions for aid, since this would be interference in the country's internal affairs, his insistent calls for help showed he understood the country under its new regime was in a weak position. "No government has officially declared its recognition," he admitted.
The dominant mood among the international aid community in Kabul is to give the Taliban time, and not turn the issue of the veil into a clash of principle. The joint statement to be presented to the authorities is understood to say the agencies "respect the local cultures of Afghanistan".
It contains no hint of any withdrawal of aid if the Taliban's position of women is not changed.
Privately, however, agency officials say that aid is the only leverage the international community has.
For the moment, every agency has complied with the order to tell their women staff not to come to work. In practice, this has meant the collapse of almost every aid project. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees runs programmes for women in tailoring, carpet weaving, and jewellery making. But programmes for young men in mechanics, car repairing, and masonry have also stopped because women help to monitor them.
In spite of the gravity of the crisis, the big agencies claim the gentle approach to the authorities is best. "We're not a human rights organisation, we're a human assistance programme," says Dr Thomas Gurtner, deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Cross. "To take up these issues becomes a political matter and is highly charged."
AFP adds: Taliban forces are making preparations for a night assault on the Panjshir Valley stronghold of Ahmad Shah Masood, the former Afghan government's top commander, an officer of the religious militia said yesterday.
Although official declarations of military objectives are not usually made to the general public, there were other indications that the Taliban were planning a nighttime attack.
In the bazaar of Gulbahar town near the mouth of the Panjshir Valley, hundreds of Taliban were seen sleeping in the late afternoon, as bus and jeep loads of reinforcements arrived from Kabul. Multi barrel rocket launchers were seen being loaded with 122mm long range missiles, which are fired prior to an infantry assault in order to soften up the opposition.
Masood dynamited the entrance to the Panjshir last Tuesday to inhibit Taliban jeeps and tanks, but infantry forces have already breached this obstacle.
Although Masood and ousted president Burhanuddin Rabbani still control three northern Afghanistan provinces - Badakhshan, Takhar and Kunduz - they clearly have their backs to the wall in face of the current Taliban offensive.
To the west of the Panjshir is the fiefdom of the Taliban's other rival faction led by ex communist Gen Abdul Rashid Dostam.
If Dostam and Masood combined their military might they might have a chance for a joint defence against the Taliban.