The Taliban has banned beauty salons in its latest clampdown on the rights and freedoms of women in Afghanistan.
Mohammad Sadiq Akif, a spokesperson for the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Propagation of Virtue, said all parlours must be closed by August 4.
An Afghan woman, who wished to remain anonymous, complained that the Taliban are trying to “eliminate women at every level of public life” following the ruling.
She told the BBC: “The Taliban are taking away the most basic human rights from Afghan women.
“They are violating women’s rights. By this decision, they are now depriving women from serving another women. When I heard the news, I was completely shocked.
“It seems the Taliban do not have any political plan other than focusing on women’s bodies. They are trying to eliminate women at every level of public life.”
The move is the latest repressive measure to be implemented by the hardline Islamist group since taking power in August 2021.
In April, Taliban leaders banned women from restaurants with gardens in Afghanistan’s north-western Herat province following complaints from religious scholars about gender mixing.
Women and girls had previously been banned from university education, several professions and public spaces including parks.
Girls cannot go to school beyond sixth grade in Afghanistan, with the education ban extending to universities.
Authorities present the education restrictions as temporary suspensions rather than bans, but universities and schools reopened in March without their female students.
