“Seeing women working in kitchens, in courtyards or collecting water from wells can lead to obscene acts,” Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on social media platform X.
| Photo Credit: AFP

The Taliban’s supreme leader has issued an order banning the construction of windows in residential buildings that overlook areas used by Afghan women and saying that existing ones should be blocked.

According to a statement released late Saturday (December 29, 2024) by the Taliban government spokesman, new buildings should not have windows through which it is possible to see “the courtyard, kitchen, neighbour’s well and other places usually used by women”.

“Seeing women working in kitchens, in courtyards or collecting water from wells can lead to obscene acts,” according to the decree posted by government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on social media platform X.

Municipal authorities and other relevant departments would have to monitor construction sites to ensure it is not possible to see into neighbours’ homes.

In the event that such windows exist, owners would be encouraged to build a wall or obstruct the view “to avoid nuisances caused to neighbours”, the decree states.

Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, women have been progressively erased from public spaces, prompting the United Nations to denounce the “gender apartheid” the administration has established.

Taliban authorities have banned post-primary education for girls and women, restricted employment and blocked access to parks and other public places.

A recent law even prohibits women from singing or reciting poetry in public under the Taliban government’s ultra-strict application of Islamic law. It also encourages them to “veil” their voices and bodies outside the home.

Some local radio and television stations have also stopped broadcasting female voices.

The Taliban administration claims that Islamic law “guarantees” the rights of Afghan men and women.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
| Photo Credit: AP

The supreme leader of the Taliban authorities said implementing Islamic law in Afghanistan was their “lifelong responsibility” in a speech marking the third anniversary of their return to power.

The Taliban Government celebrated their August 15, 2021 takeover of the capital a day early on Wednesday (August 15, 2024), in accordance with the Afghan calendar, holding military parades and gatherings across the country.

Also Read: Reclusive Taliban leader warns Afghans against earning money or gaining ‘worldly honor’

“Brothers! Our responsibility of service to religion, ruling according to sharia (Islamic law), is our lifelong responsibility,” leader Hibatullah Akhundzada told security personnel at an air base in southern Kandahar on Wednesday (August 15, 2024).

The speech was posted on social media site X (formerly Twitter) late Wednesday (August 15, 2024) by Chief Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

“We will implement Allah’s religion and sharia rule for ourselves and others as long as we live,” said Akhundzada, in rare remarks from the reclusive leader who almost never appears in public.

“Sharia and the Islamic system are getting stronger day by day,” he added.

Akhundzada rules by decree from Kandahar — the birthplace of the Taliban movement — and has handed down a string of orders enforcing an austere vision of Islam since the collapse of the foreign-backed government and withdrawal of U.S. -led forces in 2021.

Also Read: Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers score diplomatic wins, consolidate power

The Taliban Government remains unrecognised by any other state, with a key sticking point being its restrictions on women, policies the United Nations has called “gender apartheid”.

There was no immediate comment by Pakistan’s military and the Taliban government in Afghanistan denounced the strikes, which are likely to further increase tension between the neighbouring countries.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

“Pakistani airstrikes targeted multiple suspected hideouts of Pakistani Taliban inside Afghanistan early Monday (March 18), two days after insurgents killed seven soldiers in a suicide bombing and coordinated attacks in the northwest,” two security officials said.

There was no immediate comment by Pakistan’s military and the Taliban government in Afghanistan denounced the strikes, which are likely to further increase tension between the neighbouring countries.

Two Pakistani security and intelligence officials said the airstrikes were carried out in Khost and Paktika provinces bordering Pakistan. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media on the record.

The officials provided no further details, and it was unclear whether jets went deep inside Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban also confirmed Monday’s strikes in a statement.

Chief Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that Pakistan’s airstrikes in Barmal distirct in Paktika killed three women and three children while two other women were killed in the strike in Khost province.

The airstrikes came two days after a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden truck into a military post in northwest Pakistan, killing seven soldiers.

Pakistani troops also came under attack on March 16 and they killed all six militants responsible in a shootout in North Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari attended the funerals of the soldiers and vowed to retaliate for their killings, saying “the blood of our martyred soldiers will not go in vain.” Saturday’s attack on the military post was claimed by a newly formed militant group, Jaish-e-Fursan-e-Muhammad. However, Pakistani security officials believed the group mainly is comprised of members of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, which often targets Pakistani soldiers and police.

Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad based security expert, said Monday’s strikes were in retaliation for a series of TTP attacks, especially the one on Saturday in Mir Ali in which an Army lieutenant colonel and captain were among those killed.

He said the Pakistani strikes came within 24 hours of Mr. Zardari’s promise of strong retaliation. “It also indicates that Pakistan’s patience for the Afghan interim government’s continued hospitality for terrorists conducting frequent attacks on Pakistan from inside Afghanistan has finally run out,” he said.

The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group but are allies of the Afghanistan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021 as the U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout. The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan emboldened TTP, whose top leaders and fighters are hiding in Afghanistan.

Though the Taliban government in Afghanistan often says it will not allow TTP or any other militant group to attack Pakistan or any other country from its soil, the Pakistani Taliban have stepped up attacks inside Pakistan in recent years, straining relations with the Afghan Taliban government.