Afghanistan: Taliban reduce women's access to permits

Taliban officials in Herat, Afghanistan's most progressive city, have asked driving school instructors to stop issuing licenses to women, industry professionals told AFP.

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"

," said Jan Agha Achakzai, director of the Herat Traffic Management Institute, which oversees driving schools.

License traditionally governed by localities

Afghanistan is a traditionally conservative country, but it is not uncommon for women to drive in major cities, including Herat in the northwest, which has long been considered relatively progressive compared to the rest of the country.

Naim al-Haq Haqqani, who heads the provincial information and culture department, said no official order had been given.

The Taliban have largely refrained from issuing written national edicts, instead leaving local authorities to issue their own edicts, sometimes verbally.

Adila Adeel, a 29-year-old driving instructor who owns a training institute, said the Taliban want to ensure that the next generation will not have the same opportunities as their mothers.

“

,” she said.

Security Question

"

," pleaded Shaima Wafa as she drove to a local market to buy gifts for her family at the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

"

," said Fereshteh Yaqoobi, a woman who has been driving for years.

Zainab Mohseni, 26, recently applied for a permit because she says women feel safer in their own cars than in taxis driven by men.

For the young woman, this new measure is just one more sign that the new regime will stop at nothing to prevent Afghan women from enjoying the few rights they have left.

Read alsoAfghanistan: trip to the land of the Taliban

The insurgents-turned-leaders regained control of the country last August, promising a more flexible regime than during their last stint in power between 1996 and 2001, marked by human rights violations.

But they have increasingly restricted the rights of Afghans, especially Afghan women, who have been prevented from returning to school and holding many government jobs.