Defamation of women's pictures on storefronts in Kabul
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Images of women on shop windows in Kabul have been distorted or obscured, in a sign of the rapidly changing face of the Afghan capital in the days since the Taliban took over.
Taliban fighters took control of the city on Sunday after a lightning attack in which the strongholds of the former government fell in all states of the country one after the other within ten days.
As these forces advanced, concern grew in the areas they were heading towards, as Afghans fear a repeat of the cruel and brutal treatment of women under the previous Taliban rule.
In the two decades since the US-led invasion to overthrow that regime in 2001, hundreds of beauty parlors have sprung up all over Kabul selling toiletry, makeup and nail polish services to women who have grown up with every inch of their bodies hidden from the public eye.
But as Taliban forces approached the capital, at least one of these stores began whitewashing its outer walls to cover advertisements showing smiling faces of women in wedding attire.
On Tuesday, the walls of another closed salon were seen spray-painted black to disguise the smiles of its smiling models, as a Taliban fighter patrolled the street with his rifle on his shoulder.
A spokesman for the movement in Qatar told the British Sky News that women will not be required to wear a burqa that covers the entire body and even the face, without mentioning what clothing is acceptable.
Another Taliban spokesman said the movement was "committed to allowing women to work according to the principles of Islam," without providing details.
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