I’m not sure, but it sounds as if not all of the Taliban militants received their copy of the strongly worded letter from the United Nations. The New York Post is reporting today that a woman in Takhar province, located in the northeastern part of the country near Tajikistan, was spotted walking in the street without wearing a burqa. Taliban fighters patrolling the street proceeded to detain her and then shoot her. A photo was released showing the woman lying in a pool of blood, surrounded by family members.This is what’s happening far away from CNN’s cameras in Kabul, even while the Taliban’s political leadership continues to insist they will defend the rights of women.

Taliban fighters shot and killed a woman for not wearing a burqa in Afghanistan on Tuesday — the same day the group pledged to usher in a new inclusive era in the country that honors “women’s rights.”

A photo emerged of a woman in Takhar province lying in a pool of blood, with loved ones crouched around her, after she was killed by insurgents for being in public without a head covering, according to Fox News.

The killing came amid the group’s version of a charm offensive, after its swift takeover of the country in the absence of US troops, who had been propping up allied military groups since shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

When the Taliban’s leaders said that they wanted to encourage more women to be involved in the government, they didn’t mention that the work would involve starring in state-sponsored funerals. Keep in mind that Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid only just yesterday held a press conference saying that they would be encouraging women to return to school and they would be afforded rights. But he also included a provision saying that these would be the rights they are granted “under Islamic law.”

We all know what the “rights” of women are under Sharia law. They basically don’t exist and are barely considered human beings. More video emerged this morning of Taliban fighters right in the center of Kabul beating people in the streets with whips, sometimes for no apparent reason other than they’d happened to be walking by at the moment.

We should take a moment to review a few of the many promises the Taliban has made and world leaders, both in the United States and abroad, have seemingly been willing to accept, even if cautiously. They told us that they had no intention of executing a complete takeover of the government and were not interested in taking sole control of the country. The former government of Afghanistan is completely gone and the former President is in hiding in some undisclosed location out of the country.

They promised that they would not impede the evacuation of the Americans or our Afghan helpers. But as of today, they have checkpoints set up along all routes to the airport. They are turning back many people at their own discretion. Fighters are patrolling most neighborhoods of Kabul, firing guns into the air and reportedly carrying lists of names of people who cooperated with the allied forces. I somehow doubt that the lists are intended to let them send out Christmas cards this year.

And that’s all happening right in Kabul where the eyes of the world are still on them. As this report reminds us, the things that are happening out in the other provinces are even worse.

We’re still waiting to hear the details of the “deal” that the State Department supposedly worked out with the Taliban to allow the evacuation to move forward. But these stories should provide proof that Joe Biden simply can’t take the Taliban at their word and no amount of “international condemnation” is going to impact their behavior. They don’t care what the rest of the world thinks and they will say anything they need to in order to secure more resources and control. The “new” Taliban is no different than the Taliban that greeted us twenty years ago. They’ve just gotten better at public relations and media spin. We set ourselves up to fail in terms of this evacuation and things are not looking good.