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Taliban orders closure of beauty salons in Afghanistan

2023-07-04 15:27:29, Kosova & Bota CNA

Taliban orders closure of beauty salons in Afghanistan

A beauty salon in Afghanistan

The Taliban have decided to close women's beauty salons in Afghanistan, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.

This is the latest measure taken by the Taliban government, further violating the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls, following decrees banning them from education, public spaces and most forms of employment.

The spokesman of the so-called Minister of Virtue of Afghanistan, Mohammad Sidik Akif Mahajar, did not provide details, but only confirmed the content of a letter that circulated on social networks.

The letter issued by the Ministry, dated June 24, says it conveys a verbal order given by the Supreme Leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Salons will be banned in Kabul and all other provinces. The decision gives salons across the country a deadline of 1 month to close their businesses. After this period, they must be closed and submit a report on their closure. The letter does not give reasons for the ban.

The publication of the decision comes days after Akhundzada claimed that his government has taken the necessary steps to improve the lives of women in Afghanistan.

A beauty salon owner said she was the sole breadwinner for her family after her husband died in a bomb blast in 2017. She asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.

Between eight and 12 women visit her salon in Kabul every day, she said.

"Day by day they (the Taliban) are imposing restrictions on women," she told the Associated Press news agency. "Why are they only targeting women? Aren't we human? Don't we have the right to work or live?"

Despite initial promises of more moderate rule than during their previous stint in power in the 1990s, the Taliban have imposed harsh measures since taking power in Afghanistan in August 2021, when US and NATO forces they were retreating.

They have banned women from public spaces and attacked the media.

The measures have sparked international backlash, increasing the country's isolation at a time when its economy has collapsed - and worsening a humanitarian crisis./ REL