Afghanistan's Taliban government said Friday an arrest warrant sought by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its leaders was "politically motivated".
It comes a day after the ICC chief prosecutor said he was seeking warrants against senior Taliban leaders in Afghanistan over the persecution of women -- a crime against humanity.
"Like many other decisions of the (ICC), it is devoid of a fair legal basis, is a matter of double standards and is politically motivated," said a statement from the Foreign Ministry posted on X.
"It is regrettable that this institution has turned a blind eye to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by foreign forces and their domestic allies during the twenty-year occupation of Afghanistan."
It added that the court should "not attempt to impose a particular interpretation of human rights on the entire world and ignore the religious and national values of people of the rest of the world".
The Taliban swept back to power in 2021 after ousting the American-backed government in a rapid but largely bloodless military takeover, imposing a severe interpretation of Islamic law on the population, heavily restricting all aspects of women's lives.