Removing the heads of female mannequins in Afghanistan

Taliban officials in Herat province, western Afghanistan, have imposed new rules requiring clothing stores to remove the heads of female mannequins.

"They are idols ... that must be eliminated," Aziz Rahman, the official of the canton's Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, said in a statement to the German news agency DPA.

Abd al-Wadud Faizzadeh, head of one of Herat's artisans' and shopkeepers' chambers, responded that shopkeepers in the area tried to explain that mannequins were not idols, but were only used to display clothes for sale, but their attempts failed to convince officials.

"They spent between $80 and $120 on each statue," Fayezzadeh said. "They (the statues) can be seen in stores in all Muslim countries and the world."

A clothing store owner, Sayed Nazir Sadat, said his business was already suffering and he feared further restrictions. "We can't show fashion without mannequins... I can't leave this field all of a sudden because I have invested so much in it," he added.

A video clip spread on social media showed shop owners removing the heads of the mannequins.

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