The pressing questions are whether women will be able to learn, work and socialize

Taliban takeover raises concerns about women's rights

• Some women had to wear the burqa for fear of the Taliban.

  EPA

• Women and children cry in sadness and fear inside a truck after they were forced to leave their homes in search of a safer place.

  AFP

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After a devastating war that lasted for nearly 20 years in Afghanistan, residents of remote Afghan cities far from the capital, Kabul, feel a mixture of relief and awe of what will happen under the rule of the "Taliban".

The victory of the Islamist militant group and the mass surrender of Afghan government forces brought a long-awaited halt to the fighting, which has left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced since 2001.

"People are very happy," a journalist working in the southern city of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province told AFP.

There will be no more corruption, and perhaps no more bombings.”

But the most pressing questions are whether women will be able to learn, work, and socialize with men.

The principal of a school in the northeastern city of Kunduz, where the Taliban have less influence, said the militant group allows girls of all ages to be educated, but with strict segregation.

"(The Taliban) said that if it is women who educate girls, then there is no problem," he told AFP via WhatsApp.

"Teachers can go to school, but they can't work with men," he said.

He pointed out that the "Taliban" imposed other dictates after telling him not to allow music or singing, but he noticed women without male escorts in markets and health clinics.

The Taliban who ordered the residents to do these measures did not say whether the instructions came from above or if they were just local rules.

The militants pledged a different kind of rule from their harsh 1990s regime that banned women from leaving the home and imposed punishments including stoning and public execution.

They also pledged to respect progress made in the field of women's rights, but only in accordance with their strict interpretations of Sharia.

Some question the movement's new face, with experts questioning whether this is a short-term attempt to gain international recognition and secure the continuation of vital aid.

Wearing a burqa out of fear

A midwife working for a foreign NGO in Lashkar Gah said she was asked to stay home until the Taliban provided further clarification.

"I'm not really happy because I need to work and earn money," she added.

The Taliban has not yet formed a government, leaving room for speculation about how it will extend its authority over the areas it recently captured.

An official at Lashkar Gah University met with Taliban representatives who had inquired about the curriculum for the next semester.

The employee confirmed that his female colleagues came to work this week.

"It was new to them," he told AFP via WhatsApp.

They are just villagers.”

The official noted this week that some women in the city have resumed wearing the burqa out of fear, even though it is a common dress in the conservative south.

But he recounted how militants, who previously arrested men who shave their beards, did not interfere when he went to the barbershop this week.

In the city of Herat, which is only 150 kilometers from the Iranian border and influenced by Persian culture, men and women used to go to the parks at night for picnics.

An employee at a local university expressed concern about her career and salary, and said she now had to work separately from men.

In Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city and the capital of the first regime of the Taliban, a Western-style cafe owner kept his establishment open, saying that "the Taliban has so far not caused any problems," but customers stopped coming.

An employee at a local university expressed concern about her career and salary, and said she now had to work separately from men.

The victory of the hard-line Taliban movement and the mass surrender of Afghan government forces brought a long-awaited halt to the fighting, which has left tens of thousands dead and millions displaced since 2001.

• Some question the new face of the "Taliban", as experts question whether this is a short-term attempt to obtain international recognition and secure the continuation of vital aid.

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