Afghanistan's Taliban have ordered all local and foreign non-government organisations (NGO) to stop female employees from coming to work, according to an economy ministry letter, in the latest crackdown on women's freedoms.
It comes days after the Taliban-run administration banned female students from attending universities across the country, prompting global condemnation and sparking some protests and heavy criticism inside Afghanistan.
In a separate move, they also banned women from attending religious classes at mosques in the capital of Kabul.
The NGO order came in a letter from Economy Minister Qari Din Mohammed Hanif, which said that any organisation found not complying with the order would have their operating licence revoked in Afghanistan.
The ministry's spokesman, Abdul Rahman Habib, confirmed the letter's content.
The ministry said it had received "serious complaints" about female staff working for NGOs not wearing the "correct" headscarf, or hijab. It was not immediately clear if the order applies to all women or only Afghan women working at the NGOs.
More details were not immediately available amid concerns the latest Taliban move could be a stepping-stone to a blanket ban on Afghan women leaving the home.
"It's a heartbreaking announcement," said Maliha Niazai, a master trainer at an NGO teaching young people about issues such as gender-based violence.
"Are we not human beings? Why are they treating us with this cruelty?"
The 25-year-old, who works at Y-Peer Afghanistan and lives in Kabul, said her job was important because she was serving her country and is the only person supporting her family.
"Will the officials support us after this announcement? If not, then why are they snatching meals from our mouths?" she asked.
Another NGO worker, a 24-year-old from Jalalabad working for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said it was "the worst moment of my life".
"The job gives me more than a ... living, it is a representation of all the efforts I've made," she said, declining to give her name fearing for her own safety.
Mounting restrictions
The Taliban had already barred teenage girls from secondary school, and women were pushed out of many government jobs, prevented from travelling without a male relative and ordered to cover up outside of the home, ideally with a burqa.
Women were also banned from entering parks or gardens and the Taliban have resumed public floggings of men and women in recent weeks in moves international aid agencies have said may amount to "crimes against humanity".
The United Nations condemned the NGO order, and said it would seek to meet with the Taliban leadership to get some clarity.
"Taking away the free will of women to choose their own fate, disempowering and excluding them systematically from all aspects of public and political life takes the country backward, jeopardising efforts for any meaningful peace or stability in the country," a UN statement said.
When asked whether the rules directly included UN agencies, the Economic Ministry spokesperson said the letter applied to organisations under Afghanistan's coordinating body for humanitarian organisations, known as ACBAR.
That body does not include the UN, but includes over 180 local and international NGOs. Their licences would be suspended if they did not comply, the letter said.
Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN deputy special representative for Afghanistan and humanitarian coordinator, told Reuters that although the UN had not received the order, contracted NGOs carried out most of its activities and would be heavily impacted.
"Many of our programmes will be affected," he said, because they need female staff to assess humanitarian need and identify beneficiaries, otherwise they will not be able to implement aid programs.
International aid agency AfghanAid said it was immediately suspending operations while it consulted with other organisations, and that other NGOs were taking similar actions.
The potential endangerment of aid programmes that millions of Afghans access comes when more than half the population relies on humanitarian aid, according to aid agencies, and during the mountainous nation's coldest season.
"There's never a right time for anything like this … but this particular time is very unfortunate because during winter time people are most in need, and Afghan winters are very harsh," Mr Alakbarov said.
He said his office would consult NGOs and UN agencies on Sunday and seek to meet with Taliban authorities for an explanation.
Aid groups say female workers are critical to ensuring women can access aid.
Afghanistan's already struggling economy has tipped into crisis since the Taliban took over in 2021, with the country facing sanctions and cuts in development aid.
Humanitarian aid, aimed at meeting urgent needs, has provided a lifeline to millions of people. More then half of Afghanistan's population are reliant on humanitarian aid, according to the International Rescue Committee.
Water cannon used on protesters
Earlier on Saturday, Taliban security forces used a water cannon to disperse women protesting the ban on university education for women in the western city of Herat, eyewitnesses said.
According to the witnesses, about two dozen women were heading to the Herat provincial governor's house on Saturday to protest the ban.
Many chanted "education is our right" when pushed back by security forces firing the water cannon.
Video shared on social media showed women screaming and hiding in a side street to escape the water cannon. They then resume their protest, with chants of "disgraceful".
One of the protest organisers, Maryam, said between 100 and 150 women took part in the protest, moving in small groups from different parts of the city toward a central meeting point. She did not give her last name for fear of reprisals.
"There was security on every street, every square, armoured vehicles and armed men," she said.
"When we started our protest, in Tariqi Park, the Taliban took branches from the trees and beat us. But we continued our protest.
"They increased their security presence. Around 11am they brought out the water cannon."
There has been widespread international condemnation of the university ban, including from Muslim-majority countries such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, as well as warnings from the United States and the G-7 group of major industrial nations that the policy will have consequences for the Taliban.
Afghan society, while largely traditional, had increasingly embraced the education of girls and women over the past two decades under a US-backed government, that fell during the US withdrawal from the country in August last year.
ABC/wires
