Taliban minister defends women's dress crackdown in Herat

Afghanistan's minister in charge of vice and virtue defended a crackdown on women's dress in the western city of Herat, saying it protected dignity and rejecting criticism as propaganda.

Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, the Taliban government's minister for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, told a press conference in Herat that everything was fine there. He said there was no oppression or barbarism and that women's rights were protected.

Dozens of women were detained by the Taliban government's morality police in early June on accusations that they violated official dress codes by not wearing the body-covering chador or burqa. The detained women included a hospital worker employed by Doctors Without Borders, which strongly condemned the detention.

A rare protest against the restrictions was violently dispersed, with at least two people killed, according to the United Nations.

Across Afghanistan, women must be almost entirely covered when they leave home. Many wear a flowing abaya robe, a Muslim headscarf and a face covering, though not necessarily a burqa or chador.

Hanafi said opponents would portray the rules as Taliban law and order, but he said they were God's order.

The recent crackdown also affected businesses, according to shopkeepers, drivers and residents, who said female customers were staying home. Women in Herat told AFP that they no longer go out unless absolutely necessary because they fear being stopped by vice and virtue officers over alleged dress-code violations.

One 27-year-old woman said she used to take private transport to language classes every weekday but had barely left home since June because of fear.

Since returning to power in 2021, Taliban authorities have imposed rules limiting women's access to public life, including barring them from studying beyond primary school, working in certain professions and visiting parks.

Hanafi described Herat as a centre of religion and said its people promoted religion and sharia.