Kabul

The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has ordered closure of all women’s beauty and hair salons.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Virtue told  BBC that businesses had one month to comply, starting on 2 July, when they were first notified of the move.

However, the spokesperson did not specify the reason for the latest measure. When the Taliban was in power between 1996 and 2001, beauty salons were closed as part of several measures imposed by the extremist group.

However, businesses reopened in the years following the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

According to the BBC report, after the fall of Kabul in August 2021, the salons remained in service but the shop windows were boarded up. Apart from this, the photos of women were painted to hide them.

Since coming to power, the Taliban regime prohibited underage girls and women from attending classes, gyms, and parks. The Taliban further ordered that women should wear clothing that only showed their eyes and be accompanied by a male relative if they were travelling more than 72 km. Let us tell you that there has been widespread international condemnation of these restrictions.