The Taliban’s so-called morality police have arrested at least 21 women, including one who is pregnant, for allegedly violating the dress code imposed by Afghanistan’s hardline Islamist rulers, officials said.
Sources aware of the arrests in the western province of Herat said the pregnant woman has been shifted to a provincial prison but more information about her condition is not immediately available.
The Independent has reached out to officials in the Interior Affairs Ministry for comment.
The arrests were flagged by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Unama), which expressed concerns on Monday.
“Unama is concerned over multiple arrests and detentions of women in Herat, Afghanistan, for alleged non-compliance with dress requirements, which raises serious human rights concerns,” the mission said in a post on X.
It added: “We remind the de facto authorities that all people have the right to freedom of movement and that all persons, both women and men, are entitled to equality before the law.”
Afghan news outlets reported that at least 21 women and girls were detained in Herat by Taliban fighters.
In addition to the arrests, several Afghan women in the province have been given a verbal warning, sources aware of the matter said.
The Herat provincial governor has asked local representatives to convey the latest message to women “to not show skin” or wear make-up. The message was also disseminated through the mosques across Herat during Friday prayers.
In a new diktat issued last week, the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, prohibited women from appearing in public without what they called a “proper hijab”.
Several Taliban’s officials were seen patrolling the streets to enforce the directive issued by the Taliban’s ministry for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice in Herat on Friday.
The directive from the hardline Islamist regime warned that women who will not follow the dress code, show their faces or wear make-up, will face punitive measures.
Local Afghans who witnessed the raids-like situation in the Afghan province said the Taliban officers were seen carrying sticks to haul women as they accused them of not complying with the hijab edict.
Some women were seen shouting and resisting the searches and arrests from male and female Taliban officials, reported news outlet Afghanistan International. A video shared on social media showed Afghan women in hijabs being detained and forced inside a vehicle in a busy market while dozens of men witnessed the incident. The Independent has not verified the authenticity of the video.
“There are currently no women visible on this road. The Taliban detained some women, while others fled the area shouting,” a shopkeeper in the area said.
Many of the women in custody of the Taliban were already observing the enforced dress code at the time of their arrest, he told the Afghan news channel.
Despite promises of implementing a more moderate rule, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls in the war-shattered country, including limits on access to education, employment and sport, drawing widespread international criticism.
