KABUL, April 12 (Reuters) – Afghanistan’s Taliban administration has said forbidding Afghan women from working for the United Nations was an “internal issue,” after the global organisation expressed alarm at the decision and said it would review its operations there.

In the Taliban administration’s first statement on the decision since the U.N. acknowledged hearing of the new restrictions last week, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Wednesday the policy “should be respected by all sides”.

The United Nations has said it cannot accept the decision as it would breach its charter. It has asked all its staff not to go into its offices while it holds consultations and reviews its operations until May 5. On Tuesday, the U.N. Mission to Afghanistan said the Taliban administration would be responsible for any negative humanitarian impacts stemming from the ban.

Mujahid, in a statement, blamed foreign governments for the humanitarian crisis spurred by sanctions on its banking sector and the freezing of Afghan central bank assets held overseas, some of which have been placed in a Swiss trust fund.

Some diplomats and aid officials in Afghanistan and around the world have expressed concerns donors may withdraw support to Afghanistan’s humanitarian aid programme, the largest in the world, and that implementing programmes and reaching women in the conservative country would not be possible without female workers.

Taliban authorities in December said most Afghan female NGO workers would not be allowed to work.

The U.N. humanitarian agency has said a huge funding plan for Afghanistan for 2023 is less than 5% funded.

“If funding is not urgently secured, millions of Afghans will be staring down the barrel of famine, disease and death,” it said on Wednesday.

KABUL, April 12 (Reuters) – Defence has received the largest share of funds in Afghanistan’s budget as the Taliban government aims to boost forces by a third and build anti-aircraft missile capacity, the army chief told Reuters in a rare interview to foreign media.

The defence ambitions of the Taliban, which took over in 2021, come in the face of strong international criticism of its policies, such as restrictions on work and education for women, that have hampered steps towards diplomatic recognition.

In his remarks on Tuesday, Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, a Taliban commander from the northern region of Badakhshan and the chief of army staff, condemned incursions by foreign drones into Afghan airspace.

Defence forces now numbering 150,000 are targeted to be increased by 50,000, he said, speaking in his office in the highly fortified defence ministry in Kabul, the capital, although he did not reveal the precise figure of the funds.

“The ministry of defence is the top-ranked in the budget,” he said, adding that it received a significantly higher sum than other ministries, as it was a priority in the budget, which is largely funded by boosted tax and customs revenue.

No foreign nation has formally recognised the government, which is battling economic headwinds following sanctions on the banking sector and the cutoff of all development aid.

Fitrat said a major defence focus was securing Afghan airspace against drones and other incursions.

“Anti-aircraft missiles are the need of countries,” he said, adding that all nations sought developed weapons to ensure the integrity of their territory and airspace, a problem Afghanistan also faced.

“There is no doubt that Afghanistan is trying, and doing its best, to have it.”

But Fitrat declined to elaborate on where authorities were looking to procure anti-aircraft missiles from.

“We are doing our best to find a solution for protection of our airspace. We will work on it by using all our capability,” Fitrat added.

“From where we will obtain it is confidential, but we should have it.”

Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Pakistan officials have not confirmed whether its airspace is used for drone access to Afghanistan.

“We have always tried, and will try, to solve the issue using diplomatic ways, and we have done our best to be patient regarding these cases,” Fitrat said, but sounded a note of caution.

“Neighbouring countries should not let our patience be exhausted.”

Ties between the neighbours have occasionally been tense as as Pakistan has accused the Taliban administration of allowing Afghan territory to be used as a haven for militant groups.

Among these is the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), which has stepped up attacks in Pakistan in recent months.

The Taliban administration denies allowing its territory to be used for attacks on others, however.

There have been border clashes between the forces of both, and analysts say that in the event of conflict escalating, Pakistan’s airforce would give it a strong edge.

Fitrat said former security personnel, who form a significant share of Afghanistan’s forces, were being paid and treated in the same way as Taliban fighters.

The comments follow concern voiced by international rights groups and the United Nations that some former members of Afghan security forces members were targeted or killed.

While the Taliban have declared a general amnesty for former combatants, saying they would investigate cases of wrongdoing, they have not detailed legal action regarding alleged extrajudicial targeting.