A ban has been imposed on female civil servants in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, where the Taliban has re-established power.



According to the BBC on the 19th (local time), the new mayor of Kabul, Hamdullah Nomani, said, "The Taliban think women need to stop working for the time being," and ordered female city officials to stay at home.



Mayor Nomani explained that the measure makes an exception for female civil servants who do jobs that men cannot do, "For example, there are women who work in women's restrooms where men cannot go."



He added that women civil servants will be forced to stay at home and will be paid salaries until the situation normalizes.



According to Mayor Nomani, about a third of Kabul's 3,000 local government officials are women.



This announcement corresponds to a series of measures to restrict women by the Taliban.



After the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on the 15th of last month, they promised to respect women, but in reality they took steps to suppress women's rights.



Last month, a Taliban spokesperson said Afghan working women should remain at home until adequate systems are in place to ensure their safety.



"Women and men cannot work together," Taliban dignitary Wahidullah Hashimi told Reuters on the 13th of this month.



In addition, the Taliban made some universities separate male and female classes, and only male students were allowed to attend secondary schools.



Furthermore, the Taliban abolished the former government's Ministry of Gender Equality and revived the 'moral police' that strictly enforced Sharia (Islamic law).



As a result, there is growing concern that the terrible situation in which women are deprived of education and employment opportunities like in the 1990s when the Taliban first came to power will be repeated.



Afghan women have continued to protest demanding the Taliban respect human rights, and Taliban gang members violently suppressed the female protesters with whips and clubs.



On the 19th, small protests against the abolition of the Ministry of Gender Equality were held, the BBC reported.



(Photo = Getty Images Korea)