Taliban ban women on flying alone

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The Taliban have ordered airlines in Afghanistan to stop women from flying unless accompanied by a male relative, in the latest crackdown on basic human rights by the country’s new rulers since seizing power.

The hardline Islamists have imposed sweeping restrictions on freedoms, mostly targeting Afghan girls and women, and on Sunday also ordered local television channels to stop broadcasting BBC news bulletins.

Over the weekend, they also decreed that men and women could not visit parks in the capital on the same days.

After returning to power, the Taliban promised a softer version of the harsh rule that characterised their first stint in power, from 1996 to 2001, but restrictions have crept back — often implemented regionally at the whim of local officials.

Women are being increasingly excluded from public life, including being forbidden from school and most government employment, and being forced to dress in accordance with the Taliban’s rigid interpretation of the Koran.

In their most recent crackdown, the Taliban ordered Ariana Afghan Airlines and Kam Air in Afghanistan to prohibit women from flying without escorted by a “mahram,” or adult male relative.

According to aviation officials, the decision was made during a meeting on Thursday between representatives of the Taliban, the two airlines, and Kabul airport immigration authorities.

A letter addressed by a top official of Ariana Afghan Airlines to his personnel, a copy of which was acquired by AFP, stated that “no women are allowed to fly on any internal or foreign flights without a male relative.”

The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Taliban’s religious enforcers, denied ordering the flight restriction, but two travel agents contacted by AFP verified they had stopped giving tickets to solitary female travellers.

Although local media claimed that an Afghan woman with a US passport was denied boarding last week, it was unclear whether the order would affect foreigners.

“On Friday, some ladies travelling without a male relative were denied boarding on a Kam Air trip from Kabul to Islamabad,” a passenger on the flight told AFP.

Women travelling alone had already been prohibited from doing intercity vehicle journeys by the Taliban, but they have been permitted to fly until recently.

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