Afghanistan Times
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KABUL – The Taliban authorities have intensified their crackdown against dress code violations and reportedly arrested women in several neighborhoods of Kabul. The crackdown, primarily focused on enforcing strict dress standards, has recently escalated in western Kabul, with reports emerging from the Khair Khana and Taimani areas.
Sources disclosed that the detentions in the Khairkhana area spanned from Hotel-e-Parwan to Gulayee Park. The Taliban’s Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice acknowledged the arrests, citing “improper dressing” as the reason, but withheld information on the number of detainees. This pattern of detentions appears to be widespread across Kabul.
A concerning development involves reports of family members attempting to secure the release of detained women being coerced into supporting the Taliban’s version of the hijab. Despite compliance, the detainees remain in custody, exacerbating fears and imposing additional restrictions on women and girls in Kabul. Many individuals are being detained for non-compliance with the Taliban’s dress code.
Women’s rights activists in the region have criticized the Taliban for the lack of transparency regarding the detained individuals, further intensifying concerns. The detentions have garnered widespread condemnation from Afghan citizens, political figures, and parties, who denounce them as a form of women’s kidnapping by the Taliban.
Expressing deep concern, the United Nations special rapporteur for Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, has called for an immediate cessation of these arrests by the Taliban, underscoring the global significance of the issue.
