The decision, issued by the Ministry of Public Morals, states that it was taken on the basis of a “verbal order” from Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada.
However, it is not clear why the decision was made.
– When it is closed, we will share the reason with the media, Muhammad Sadiq Akif Muhajir, spokesman for the Ministry of Arts, told AFP.
The decision affects all beauty salons in the country and gives them a month’s notice to end their operations. After this period, they must close and report on their liquidation.
The number of beauty salons in Afghanistan has grown rapidly during the twenty years that the United States has been present in the country. Saloons are safe places where women can congregate and socialize without men. They also provide otherwise limited employment opportunities for women.
The decision was announced just days after Hebatullah Akhundzadeh claimed his government had taken the necessary steps to improve the lives of women in Afghanistan.
Despite initial promises of softer rule than during their previous rule in the 1990s, the Taliban have imposed tough measures since seizing control of Afghanistan in August 2021, when US and NATO forces withdrew from the country.
Girls would be allowed to go to school and women to work as soon as a “safe environment” had been arranged, which had been promised, among other things.
But since then, girls and women have been banned from colleges and universities, banned from parks, gardens, and gyms, and ordered to cover up in public.
Women were also largely barred from working for the United Nations or NGOs.
At the end of April this year, the UN Security Council approved a resolution calling on the Taliban regime to lift bans and restrictions targeting girls and women, but the regime ignored the criticism, saying it was an “internal matter.”
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