Kabul : Taliban In the latest crackdown on basic human rights by the country’s new rulers since seizing power, airlines in Afghanistan have been ordered to bar women from flying unless accompanied by a male relative.
Radical Islamists have imposed sweeping restrictions on freedom, most of which target Afghan girls and women, and on Sunday also ordered local television channels to stop broadcasting BBC news bulletins.
Over the weekend, they also decided that men and women could not visit the capital’s parks on the same day.
Returning to power in August, the Taliban promised a softer version of the harsh regime that characterized their first term in power from 1996 to 2001, but the sanctions have returned – often imposed regionally at the will of local officials. is done.
Women are increasingly being cut off from public life – barred from high schools and most government jobs, and ordered to dress according to the Taliban’s strict interpretation of the Quran.
In its latest action, the Taliban ordered Afghanistan’s Ariana Afghan Airlines and Kama Air To prevent females from flying unless they are escorted by a “mahram”, or adult male relative.
Aviation officials told AFP the decision was taken after a meeting on Thursday between representatives of the Taliban, the two airlines and immigration officials at Kabul airport.
“No woman is allowed to fly on any domestic or international flights without a male relative,” a senior Ariana official said in a letter to her staff, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
A spokesman for the Taliban’s religious promoters, the Ministry of Propaganda of Virtue and Prevention, denied ordering the flight ban, but two travel agents told AFP they had stopped issuing tickets to single female passengers.
The order was not expected to affect foreigners, although aviation officials said an Afghan woman with a US passport was barred from flying last week.
“Some women who were traveling without any male relatives were not allowed to board a Kabul-Islamabad flight from Kabul on Friday,” a passenger on the plane told AFP.
The Taliban has already banned inter-city road trips for women traveling alone.
The flight ban came after the deputy ministry ordered that men and women should not visit Kabul’s parks on the same day.
A ministry notification said women are now allowed to visit the park only on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, while the remaining days are reserved for men.
“It is not the order of the Islamic Emirate but the order of our Lord that men and women who are strangers to each other should not gather in one place.” yahya arefA deputy ministry official told AFP.
The new ban on women follows the closure of all-girls’ secondary schools on Wednesday, just hours after they were allowed to reopen for the first time since August.
Tens of thousands of girls were back in class, but officials ordered them home within hours of the day, sparking an international outcry.
Taliban sources said the decision was taken last week after an in-camera meeting of leaders of the movement in Kandahar, the group’s de facto power centre.
Several Afghan women activists have warned of nationwide protests if schools do not open within a week.
Human Rights Watch’s associate director for women’s rights Heather Barr said the latest restrictions were “scary.”
“We see women and girls getting screwed every day now,” she said.
“They have given up – at least for now – any attempt to reach an accommodation with the international community, and that leaves them with nothing to lose.”
The Taliban seem to have also set their eyes on local media networks, which flourished under the previous US-backed regime.
Taliban intelligence agents on Monday raided four radio stations in Kandahar and detained six journalists.
The raid comes a day after officials ordered the BBC’s television partners in Afghanistan to stop broadcasting its news bulletins.
“Since foreign TV channels broadcast from abroad, the Islamic emirate has no access to control its content, especially when it comes to the uniforms and clothing of journalists,” a government spokesman inamullah accompaniment told AFP.
The Taliban have already ordered female journalists working for Afghan television networks to wear hijabs, and barred channels from broadcasting foreign dramas.
Radical Islamists have imposed sweeping restrictions on freedom, most of which target Afghan girls and women, and on Sunday also ordered local television channels to stop broadcasting BBC news bulletins.
Over the weekend, they also decided that men and women could not visit the capital’s parks on the same day.
Returning to power in August, the Taliban promised a softer version of the harsh regime that characterized their first term in power from 1996 to 2001, but the sanctions have returned – often imposed regionally at the will of local officials. is done.
Women are increasingly being cut off from public life – barred from high schools and most government jobs, and ordered to dress according to the Taliban’s strict interpretation of the Quran.
In its latest action, the Taliban ordered Afghanistan’s Ariana Afghan Airlines and Kama Air To prevent females from flying unless they are escorted by a “mahram”, or adult male relative.
Aviation officials told AFP the decision was taken after a meeting on Thursday between representatives of the Taliban, the two airlines and immigration officials at Kabul airport.
“No woman is allowed to fly on any domestic or international flights without a male relative,” a senior Ariana official said in a letter to her staff, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
A spokesman for the Taliban’s religious promoters, the Ministry of Propaganda of Virtue and Prevention, denied ordering the flight ban, but two travel agents told AFP they had stopped issuing tickets to single female passengers.
The order was not expected to affect foreigners, although aviation officials said an Afghan woman with a US passport was barred from flying last week.
“Some women who were traveling without any male relatives were not allowed to board a Kabul-Islamabad flight from Kabul on Friday,” a passenger on the plane told AFP.
The Taliban has already banned inter-city road trips for women traveling alone.
The flight ban came after the deputy ministry ordered that men and women should not visit Kabul’s parks on the same day.
A ministry notification said women are now allowed to visit the park only on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, while the remaining days are reserved for men.
“It is not the order of the Islamic Emirate but the order of our Lord that men and women who are strangers to each other should not gather in one place.” yahya arefA deputy ministry official told AFP.
The new ban on women follows the closure of all-girls’ secondary schools on Wednesday, just hours after they were allowed to reopen for the first time since August.
Tens of thousands of girls were back in class, but officials ordered them home within hours of the day, sparking an international outcry.
Taliban sources said the decision was taken last week after an in-camera meeting of leaders of the movement in Kandahar, the group’s de facto power centre.
Several Afghan women activists have warned of nationwide protests if schools do not open within a week.
Human Rights Watch’s associate director for women’s rights Heather Barr said the latest restrictions were “scary.”
“We see women and girls getting screwed every day now,” she said.
“They have given up – at least for now – any attempt to reach an accommodation with the international community, and that leaves them with nothing to lose.”
The Taliban seem to have also set their eyes on local media networks, which flourished under the previous US-backed regime.
Taliban intelligence agents on Monday raided four radio stations in Kandahar and detained six journalists.
The raid comes a day after officials ordered the BBC’s television partners in Afghanistan to stop broadcasting its news bulletins.
“Since foreign TV channels broadcast from abroad, the Islamic emirate has no access to control its content, especially when it comes to the uniforms and clothing of journalists,” a government spokesman inamullah accompaniment told AFP.
The Taliban have already ordered female journalists working for Afghan television networks to wear hijabs, and barred channels from broadcasting foreign dramas.