Taliban ban women from restaurants and green spaces in Afghanistan's Herat

The Taliban administration has prohibited families and women from restaurants with gardens and green areas, such as parks, where men and women could meet.

                Taliban ban women from restaurants and green spaces in Afghanistan's Herat 

The Taliban have prohibited the entry of families and women into restaurants with gardens or green spaces in the northwestern province of Herat in Afghanistan. This comes even as the group, which came into power in August 2021, continues to impose curbs on women under its rule.

The latest move is a result of several complaints from religious scholars and the public about the mixing of genders in such places, according to an official. The outdoor dining ban is only applicable to establishments in Herat, where such premises are open for men. The curbs are in place as women are not wearing the hijab (Islamic headscarf) properly, according to authorities.

Not all restaurants were barred for families and women, said Baz Mohammad Nazir, a deputy official from the Ministry of Vice and Virtue’s directorate in Herat, while denying media reports of the same and calling them "propaganda", according to an Associated Press report.

The official said the ban was restricted only to restaurants with green areas, such as parks, where men and women could meet. "After repeated complaints from scholars and ordinary people, we set limits and closed these restaurants," he said.

Azizurrahman Al Muhajir, who is head of the Vice and Virtue directorate in Herat, said, "It was like a park but they named it a restaurant and men and women were together. Thank God it has been corrected now. Also, our auditors are observing all the parks where men and women go."

Furthermore, Nazir also denied reports that DVD sales of foreign movies, music and television shows were banned in Herat. He claimed that shopkeepers were advised not to sell such material as it contradicted Islamic values, the Associated Press report said.

Nazir said those shopkeepers who did not follow the rules saw their shops shut. He also denied reports that internet cafes were closed down in Herat. He clarified that children were barred from gaming arcades due to unsuitable content.

A few games insulted the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure in Mecca's Great Mosque towards which Muslims turn when offering their prayers and other Islamic symbols.

"Internet cafes, where students learn and use for their studies, are necessary and we have allowed them," Nazir further said.

The Taliban, which seized power after US-led forces withdrew from Afghanistan after two decades of war, has tightened controls over the freedom of women. Girls beyond sixth grade and women have been barred from entering classrooms and universities respectively.

Women are also banned from taking up job opportunities, including those at the United Nations. They are also not allowed to visit public spaces such as gyms and parks.

ISIS claims Afghanistan bus attack that killed nine people

 

The country has recorded an increase in deadly attacks over the past two weeks

ISIS claimed the two bomb attacks on minibuses in Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif that killed nine people on Thursday.

The attacks came within minutes of each other in two areas of Mazar-i-Sharif as commuters headed home to end the day’s fast, Balkh provincial police spokesman Asif Waziri told AFP.

The country has suffered a sharp increase in deadly attacks over the past two weeks after a string of bombings during Ramadan, the month of fasting.

“The targets appear to be Shiite passengers,” he said. Thirteen people were wounded in the blasts.

The so-called Islamic State — Khorasan Province (IS-K) took responsibility for Thursday’s attack, claiming hat 30 people were killed.

The number of violent public attacks in Afghanistan has fallen since the Taliban took over the country in August although ISIS has continued to target Shiites, whom they view as heretics.

Images on social media showed one minibus engulfed in flames, while the other was mangled, with Taliban fighters transporting victims to hospitals.

Last week, an attack on a Shiite mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif killed at least 12 worshippers and wounded many more.

That explosion was followed a day later by the bombing of another mosque in Kunduz targeting the minority Sufi community where at least 36 people were killed during Friday prayers.

In Kabul, another attack also targeted Shiites, with two bombs detonated at a school, killing six pupils.

ISIS claimed the mosque attack in Mazar-i-Sharif, but no group has so far taken responsibility for the bombing in Kunduz or at the Kabul school.

Shiite Afghans, who are mostly from the Hazara community, make up between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of Afghanistan’s population of 38 million.

Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP on Thursday that several arrests had been made in connection with the string of recent attacks.

“These attacks targeted places that did not have enough security, like mosques and a school, but now we have stepped up security in such places,” he said.

To Know More:https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2022/04/29/isis-claims-afghanistan-bus-attack-that-killed-nine-people/