In a recent development, the Taliban have detained six young girls in Balkh province, alleging violations of the group’s dress code.
Local sources informed Hasht-e Subh Daily on Thursday, January 18th, that Taliban officials, acting under the guise of promoting virtue and preventing vice, apprehended these girls in the past week within the areas of Hasan-Abad, Bandar-e Tashqorghan, and Charahi Alkozai in Mazar-i-Sharif.
Simultaneously, the Taliban also detained a health worker in Mazar-i-Sharif on similar charges.
These incidents follow a series of recent arrests by the Taliban in Dasht-e Barchi, Khairkhana, and other parts of Kabul, where women and girls were accused of violating the group’s prescribed dress code. Subsequently, they were transferred to Taliban security forces and prisons.
The detentions have triggered widespread reactions from citizens, politicians, human rights organizations, civil activists, and religious scholars.
In the most recent turn of events, the U.S. Department of State has condemned the Taliban’s detention of young girls and women, specifically on charges of “not adhering to the group’s dress code.”
