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A Taliban member at a roundabout in Wazir Akbar Khan area, downtown Kabul. File photo,
Taliban authorities in Kandahar have warned shopkeepers that they could face imprisonment if they sell goods to women who do not wear Taliban-approved hijab, local sources told Amu.
The order, delivered verbally last week by officials from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, applies particularly to merchants in the modern markets of the Aino Mina neighborhood. Shopkeepers were instructed either to refuse service to women entirely or to sell only to those wearing what the Taliban deem proper attire.
Several vendors said the restriction has hurt their businesses, as many female customers now avoid the markets out of fear of harassment or punishment. “Women no longer dare to come shopping,” one shopkeeper said. “The market has lost its bustle.”
The directive is part of a broader set of restrictions imposed by the ministry in Kandahar, which include bans on women entering restaurants and recreation sites, requirements for a male guardian in workplaces, prohibitions on washing clothes in city canals, mandatory hijab in all work settings, closure of women-only markets and factories, bans on civil activism by women, and restrictions on women working in local media. Girls’ education remains suspended across the country.
Human rights groups have repeatedly condemned the Taliban’s expanding limits on women’s rights, calling them systematic and abusive. The Taliban have not responded to requests for comment on the latest restrictions.