In early July, as Taliban insurgents were seizing territory from government forces across Afghanistan, fighters from the group walked into the offices of Azizi Bank in the southern city of Kandahar and ordered nine women working there to leave.
The gunmen escorted them to their homes and told them not to return to their jobs. Instead, they explained that male relatives could take their place, according to three of the women involved and the bank’s manager.
“It’s really strange to not be allowed to get to work, but now this is what it is,” Noor Khatera, a 43-year-old woman who had worked in the accounts department of the bank told Reuters.
“I taught myself English and even learned how to operate a computer, but now I will have to look for a place where I can just work with more women around.”
The incident is an early sign that some of the rights won by Afghan women over the 20 years since the hardline Islamist militant movement was toppled could be reversed if it returns to power.
The Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, have overrun many of Afghanistan’s biggest cities in recent days and are closing in on the capital Kabul.
9Naija 