"Hijab is Not Enough".. Taliban Trucks Abduct Women as UN Warns

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has expressed "grave concern" over reports of the detention of a "significant number" of women and girls in the capital Kabul from July 16 to 19, for not complying with the hijab instructions imposed by the Taliban.

According to a statement issued by the mission, the teams affiliated with the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice intensified their patrols in the densely populated neighborhoods of the capital, where cases of women being arrested for "not fully adhering" to the imposed Islamic dress code were observed, despite wearing abayas and hijabs.

Eyewitnesses described the scene as "terrifying and humiliating," with one individual _whose name was changed for security reasons_ stating, "Ministry women tried to force several girls into a vehicle, and when they refused, an armed man intervened and forcibly pushed them into a small truck."

Despite these testimonies, the Taliban strongly denied these allegations, with the spokesperson for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue, Saif al-Islam Khyber, stating: "No one has been arrested, and no one has been imprisoned. We only encourage wearing the hijab based on religious and moral grounds."

However, the United Nations expressed regret over what it described as "practices that perpetuate a climate of fear and deepen the isolation of women in Afghan society," emphasizing that it had discussed the issue with the authorities, urging respect for human rights, particularly women's right to public life.

Since the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, following the withdrawal of international forces, the movement pledged to be less strict compared to its first rule (1996 - 2001).

However, as human rights organizations point out, the current situation indicates ongoing restrictions on women and girls, including preventing them from education, work, and travel without a male guardian.

The United Nations had described these policies as a form of gender-based racial segregation, but the Taliban rejects these accusations, affirming that Islamic law "guarantees rights for everyone without discrimination."

These developments come at a time when media outlets in Afghanistan are facing unprecedented pressures, ranging from the closure of media institutions to the arrest of journalists, threatening the remaining freedoms in a country experiencing a fragile political and social situation.