The Taliban has instructed Afghan airlines to bar women from flying unless they are accompanied by a male relative, according to AFP.
Following the closing of all girls’ secondary schools on Wednesday, only hours after they were allowed to resume for the first time since the hardline Islamists seized control in August, the latest ban on women was imposed.
Late Sunday, two employees from Afghanistan’s Ariana Afghan airline and Kam Air reported the Taliban had instructed them to avoid boarding ladies travelling alone.
The decision was reached following a meeting on Thursday between representatives of the Taliban, the two airlines, and airport immigration authorities, according to officials who declined to be identified.
Since the Taliban’s have returned to power many restrictions on women’s freedom have been reintroduced — often implemented locally at the whim of regional officials from the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
“No women are allowed to fly on any domestic or international flights without a male relative,” the letter said.
Two travel agents AFP contacted also confirmed they had stopped issuing tickets to solo women travellers.
“Some women who were travelling without a male relative were not allowed to board a Kam Air flight from Kabul to Islamabad on Friday,” a passenger who was on that flight told AFP.
Another source stated an Afghan woman with a US passport was also denied boarding on a trip to Dubai on Friday.
Women travelling alone had already been prohibited from doing intercity vehicle journeys by the Taliban, but they have been permitted to fly until recently.
The Taliban have promised a more moderate version of the severe Islamist rule that characterised their first term in power, which lasted from 1996 to 2001.
They have, however, reversed two decades of achievements won by Afghan women since August.
Women have been forced to leave the majority of government positions and secondary school education, as well as be forced to dress in a rigid interpretation of the Koran.
After schools reopened on Wednesday, tens of thousands of girls returned to class, but officials forced them home mere hours later, sparking international outcry.
Authorities have not yet given a clear reason for the policy reversal
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