Karim Khan said in a statement he asked judges to approve warrants for the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhunzada, and the head of Afghanistan's Supreme Court, Abdul Hakim Haqqani, accusing the men of crimes against humanity for gender-based persecution.

The requested warrants target Haibatullah Akhundzada, the reclusive Kandahar-based leader of the Taliban, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the group’s chief justice.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor said on Thursday he had applied for arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders in Afghanistan including supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, accusing them of the persecution of women and girls.

The top prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) says he will seek arrest warrants against senior leaders of the Taliban government in Afghanistan over the persecution of women and girls.

The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants over “unprecedented” persecution of women and girls in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan's Taliban foreign ministry said on Friday it "strongly condemns" and rejects the International Criminal Court's request for arrest warrants for two Taliban leaders. The ICC prosecutor announced on Thursday that he was pursuing warrants for Taliban supreme spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and for Abdul Hakim Haqqani,

The International Criminal Court, a U.N. agency, has to approve the warrants. They've been condemned by the Taliban and welcomed by Afghan women and their advocates — with some reservations.