OTTAWA (REUTERS) - Canada plans to resettle more than 20,000 vulnerable Afghans, including women leaders, human rights workers and reporters to protect them from Taleban reprisals, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said on Friday (Aug 13).

       The effort is in addition to an earlier initiative to welcome thousands of Afghans who worked for the Canadian government, such as interpreters, embassy workers and their families, he told a news conference.

       "As the Taleban continues to take over more of Afghanistan, many more Afghans' lives are under increasing threat," he said.

       He did not provide a timetable.

       Canada's new plan would focus on those who are particularly vulnerable, including women leaders, human rights defenders, reporters, persecuted religious minorities and members of the gay and lesbian community, he said.

       The Taleban have seized Afghanistan's second- and third-biggest cities as resistance from government forces crumbled.

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