The Taliban have ordered airlines in Afghanistan to refuse to board women if they are not accompanied by a male relative to travel, we learned from Afghan airlines.
Two officials from Ariana Afghan Airlines and Kam Air told AFP on Sunday evening that they had received an order from the Taliban to no longer issue tickets to women who were not accompanied by a male relative for their trip.
The decision was taken after a midweek meeting between representatives of the Taliban, these two airlines and immigration authorities at Kabul airport.
A letter sent by a senior official of Ariana Afghan Airlines to the staff of the airline, and of which AFP obtained a copy, confirms these new instructions which apply to all flights.
“No female is permitted to fly domestic or international flights without a male relative,” the letter reads.
Two travel agents contacted by AFP also confirmed that they had stopped issuing tickets to women who wanted to travel alone.
“Some women who were traveling without a male relative were not allowed to board a Kam Air flight from Kabul to Islamabad on Friday,” said a female passenger who was on the flight.
An Afghan woman with a US passport was also barred from boarding a flight to Dubai on Friday, another source said.
At the end of December, the Taliban fundamentalists had already prohibited Afghan women from making trips of more than 72 kilometers in the country if they were not accompanied by a close member of the family.
This new restriction imposed on Afghan women comes a few days after the decision of the Taliban to close secondary schools for girls, just after their reopening which had however been announced for a long time.
On Sunday, the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice also ordered the separation of women and men in public parks in Kabul, establishing visitation days for each gender.
Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are now reserved for men and Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays for women, he said.
Since coming to power seven months ago, the Taliban have continued to impose restrictions on women. They are excluded from many public jobs, controlled on how to dress and forbidden to travel alone outside their city and henceforth to take the plane.
They also arrested and detained women activists – some for several weeks – who had protested for women’s rights.