This fear has been reinforced by the Taliban’s statement at the Moscow talks, which demanded the Constitution of the country must be revised.

Yet a Taliban leader claimed in Moscow that his group will not stop Afghan women from going to schools, universities and work. According to Afghan women who attended the Moscow talks, the Taliban told them a woman can serve in a political position but cannot become president.

Ghizaal Haress, a commissioner at the Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of the Constitution, thinks “it is imperative that these constitutional rights are not compromised during the peace negotiations, as there has been a broad social and political consensus around the Constitution.”

There is a growing sense among Afghans that their concerns have remained secondary in United States-Taliban talks. For Shaharzad Akbar, a political activist in Kabul, for example, the talks would be successful if they lead to direct negotiations between the Taliban and Afghan stakeholders — government, political parties, civil society, women, youth and representatives of the victims of conflict.

These talks should concern not only the constitution but also the Taliban’s transition to a political movement and the disarmament of their militants, transitional justice and postwar development.

In light of these demands, any withdrawal of foreign troops must be gradual, linked to the capacity of Afghan security forces to mitigate risks that emanate from potential factions of the Taliban who might disagree with a peace deal and from other regional and international terrorist groups.

The exit strategy must also be aligned with Afghanistan’s development priorities in infrastructure, agriculture, extractive industries, and private sector and human capital development, to help generate greater revenue, continue delivering services and create long-term jobs.