The Taliban replaced signs for Afghanistan’s women’s ministry with those for the ministry of virtue and vice, reintroducing a department that became defunct when they lost control of the country in 2001.
The replaced signs, written in a mixture of Dari and Arabic, translated to “Ministries of Prayer and Guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.” Female employees said the gates to the building were locked on Thursday, following weeks of showing up for work only to be told to return home, Reuters reported.
NIKKI HALEY LEADS FIGHT AGAINST RECOGNIZING TALIBAN
“I am the only breadwinner in my family,” a woman who worked in the department told the outlet. “When there is no ministry, what should an Afghan woman do?”
The Taliban announced a list of Cabinet posts on Sept. 7, with one being an acting minister for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice. The group did not mention a women’s minister but did not confirm the department had been disbanded, the report said.
No women or non-Taliban figures were appointed to roles in the caretaker government despite the Taliban claiming last month they are encouraging the “presence of women in different [government] structures according to Islamic law.”
The Taliban used the Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice from 1996 to 2001 to enforce its interpretation of Sharia law, implementing a strict dress code, and conducting public executions and floggings. Afghanistan women were also not allowed to attend school or work.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Taliban urged women to join the government on Aug. 17, but the group has since reversed course, with Sayed Zekrullah Hashimi, a Taliban spokesman, saying on Sept. 10. that women are incapable of performing government duties and that doing so would “put something on [women’s] neck[s] that [they] cannot carry.”
In the midst of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan last month, thousands of U.S. residents were left behind. Though the United States initially attempted to rescue people from Kabul, rescue efforts were complicated by an Aug. 26 blast near the city’s airport that left 13 U.S. service members and hundreds of Afghans dead.
