Editor’s note: this story was translated from the original VOA Pashto article. The United States says that the Taliban in Afghanistan will remain designated an “Entity of Particular Concern,” citing the group’s “particularly severe violations” of religious freedom in Afghanistan. A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told VOA the U.S. does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan and that the department has “suspended any foreign assistance” that could potentially fall into the hands of the Taliban. “We will not allow American taxpayer dollars to fund the Taliban’s reprehensible behavior,” the spokesperson said in a written statement to VOA on September 25. The U.S. State Department included the Taliban in its list of “entities of particular concern” in 2021 after the Taliban seized power in the country and enforced a strict interpretation of Islamic law, imposing sweeping restrictions on personal freedoms and limiting Afghan women’s participation in public life. The Taliban have not commented yet, but in the past they have repeatedly rejected criticism of their strict policies, saying that they …