- In Afghanistan, the ruling militant Islamist Taliban have ordered drivers not to play music in their vehicles.
- They also ordered restrictions on women being taken along as passengers.
- A little before that it was already known: The Taliban have also dissolved the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).
Women without an Islamic hijab should not be taken, as stated in a letter from the Ministry for the Preservation of Virtue and Suppression of Vice Distributed to Motorists. The ministry’s spokesman, Mohammed Sadik Asif, confirmed the directive on Sunday. How exactly the hijab should look like is not clear from the arrangement.
As a rule, the Taliban do not understand this to mean covering the hair and neck, but rather a cloak from head to toe.
The directive also advised drivers not to take women with them who wanted to travel more than 45 miles (about 72 kilometers) without a male companion. In the letter, which also circulated on social media, drivers were instructed, among other things, to take breaks to pray. You should advise people to grow beards, it said.
Rigorously against women’s rights
The Islamists have noticeably curtailed women’s rights since their return to power. In many cases they cannot go back to their jobs. Most girls’ secondary schools are closed. Street protests by activists were violently suppressed. Many fled the country.