Taliban ban Afghan women from flying without male relative

[superadmin]

KABUL – The Taliban have ordered airlines in Afghanistan to stop women from boarding flights unless accompanied by a male relative, aviation officials said.

The latest restriction on women follows Wednesday’s shutdown of all girls’ secondary schools just hours after they were allowed to reopen for the first time since the hardline Islamists seized power in August.

Two officials from Afghanistan’s Ariana Afghan airline and Kam Air said late yesterday that the Taliban had ordered them to stop boarding women if they were travelling alone.

The decision was taken after a meeting on Thursday between representatives of the Taliban, the two airlines, and airport immigration authorities, the officials said, asking not to be named.

Since the Taliban’s return to power, many curbs on women’s freedoms have been reintroduced – often implemented locally at the whim of regional officials from the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Ministry.

The ministry said it had not issued any directive banning women from taking flights alone.

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