The Taliban are banning women’s beauty salons in Afghanistan, a government spokesman said Tuesday.
It’s the latest curb on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls, following edicts barring them from education, public spaces and most forms of employment.
A spokesman for the Taliban-run Virtue and Vice Ministry, Mohammad Sidik Akif Mahajar, didn’t give details of the ban. He only confirmed the contents of a letter circulating on social media.
The ministry-issued letter, dated June 24, says it conveys a verbal order from the supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada. The ban targets the capital, Kabul, and all provinces, and gives salons throughout the country a month’s notice to wind down their businesses. After that period, they must close and submit a report about their closure. The letter doesn’t give reasons for the ban.
Its release comes days after Akhundzada claimed that his government has taken the necessary steps for the betterment of women’s lives in Afghanistan.
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