Taliban-run Kabul municipality to female workers: Stay home

KABUL – Female employees successful the Kabul metropolis authorities person been told to enactment home, with enactment lone allowed for those who cannot beryllium replaced by men, the interim politician of Afghanistan's superior said Sunday, detailing the latest restrictions connected women by the caller Taliban rulers.

The determination to forestall astir pistillate metropolis workers from returning to their jobs is different motion that the Taliban, who overran Kabul past month, are enforcing their harsh mentation of Islam contempt archetypal promises by immoderate that they would beryllium tolerant and inclusive. In their erstwhile regularisation successful the 1990s, the Taliban had barred girls and women from schools, jobs and nationalist life.

In caller days, the caller Taliban authorities issued respective decrees rolling backmost the rights of girls and women. It told pistillate middle- and precocious schoolhouse students that they could not instrumentality to schoolhouse for the clip being, portion boys successful those grades resumed studies this weekend. Female assemblage students were informed that studies would instrumentality spot successful gender-segregated settings from present on, and that they indispensable abide by a strict Islamic formal code. Under the U.S.-backed authorities deposed by the Taliban, assemblage studies had been co-ed, for the astir part.

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On Friday, the Taliban unopen down the Women's Affairs Ministry, replacing it with a ministry for the “propagation of virtuousness and the prevention of vice" and tasked with enforcing Islamic law.

On Sunday, conscionable implicit a twelve women staged a protestation extracurricular the ministry, holding up signs calling for the information of women successful nationalist life. “A nine successful which women are not progressive is (sic) dormant society," 1 motion read.

“Why are they (the Taliban) taking our rights?” said 1 of the protesters, 30-year-old Basira Tawana. “We are present for our rights and the rights of our daughters."

The protestation lasted for astir 10 minutes. After a abbreviated verbal confrontation with a man, the women got into cars and left, arsenic Taliban successful 2 cars observed from nearby. Over the past months, Taliban fighters had breached up respective women's protests by force.

Elsewhere successful the city, interim Kabul Mayor Hamdullah Namony gave his archetypal quality league since being appointed by the Taliban.

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He said that earlier the Taliban takeover past month, conscionable nether one-third of adjacent to 3,000 metropolis employees were women, and that they had worked successful each departments.

Namony said the pistillate employees person been ordered to enactment home, pending a further decision. He said exceptions were made for women who could not beryllium replaced by men, including immoderate successful the plan and engineering departments and the attendants of nationalist toilets for women. Namony did not accidental however galore pistillate employees were forced to enactment home.

“There are immoderate areas that men can’t bash it, we person to inquire our pistillate unit to fulfill their duties, determination is nary alternate for it,” helium said.

Namony besides said the caller authorities has begun removing information barriers successful Kabul, a metropolis that has endured predominant bombing and shooting attacks implicit the years. Such barriers — erected adjacent ministries, embassies and backstage homes of politicians and warlords — had been commonplace successful Kabul for years.

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The politician said backstage citizens would beryllium charged for the enactment of taking down the barriers. While helium said astir barriers had been removed, reporters touring the metropolis noted that barriers extracurricular astir authorities installations and embassies had been near successful place.

The Taliban person tried to contiguous themselves arsenic guarantors of security, successful hopes that this volition triumph them enactment from a nationalist inactive wide suspicious of their intentions. Under the erstwhile government, a emergence successful transgression had been a large interest for mean Afghans.

Perhaps the toughest situation faced by the caller Taliban rulers is the accelerated economical downturn. Even earlier the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan was plagued by large problems, including large-scale poverty, drought and dense reliance connected overseas assistance for the authorities budget.

In a motion of increasing desperation, thoroughfare markets person sprung up successful Kabul wherever residents are selling their belongings. Some of the sellers are Afghans hoping to permission the country, portion others are forced to connection their meager belongings successful hopes of getting wealth for the adjacent meal.

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“Our radical request help, they request jobs, they request contiguous help, they are not selling their household belongings for prime here,” said Kabul nonmigratory Zahid Ismail Khan, who was watching the enactment successful 1 of the impromptu markets.

“For a short-term radical mightiness effort to find a mode to live, but they would person nary different prime to crook to begging successful a longer term,” helium said.

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Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez successful Istanbul contributed.

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