The takeover of Afghanistan by the Islamic Emirate has resulted in the serious erosion of human rights in the country, Washington said on Tuesday.

“In Afghanistan, the Taliban’s (IEA) takeover precipitated a humanitarian crisis, and has resulted in serious erosion of human rights, from arbitrary detentions of women, protesters, and journalists, to reprisals against security forces for the former government, to growing restrictions on where women and girls can study or work,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Blinken made the remarks at a press conference on the release of the US State Department’s annual country reports on human rights practices.

The report stated that “significant human rights issues” occurred in Afghanistan both before and after the IEA took control of the country on August 15.

The report identified a number of serious human rights violations under IEA rule, including reprisal killings by IEA fighters; the removal of women and minority groups from leadership; serious restrictions on free speech; and bans on women from working or receiving an education.

Samira Hamidi, Amnesty International’s Afghanistan Campaigner, also said that IEA violated human rights particularly with respect to women and girls. She said that human rights advocating institutions continue to document the violations.

IEA, however, rejected the US State Department’s report on human rights as “contemptuous.”

“Afghans have left behind the horrific era of occupation and military presence of the United States when homes were being bombarded and raided,” said Inamullah Samangani, deputy spokesman of IEA.