By Rukhshana Media
The Taliban banned women without male chaperones from entering cafes in the western city of Herat, a Taliban official confirmed to Rukhshana Media on Tuesday.
“We have ordered the coffee shops to don’t allow women without a Mahram,” Aziz Al-Muhajir, the Taliban director for the provincial office of Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, told Rukhshana Media.
The new restriction comes with a ban on music and strict closure at 9:30 pm.
The Taliban official said the restrictions came after they received complaints from Mullahs and elders against the cafes in the city.
“The Islamic scholars, influential figures and elders complained to us that coffee shops are the worst place in Herat, because they have corrupted our children [by letting them] smoke hookah and drink alcohol,” the Taliban official said.
The new restriction was announced days after the group ordered the beheading of store mannequins in Herat city.
A cafe owner in the city, who spoke anonymously to Rukhshana Media, said the Taliban entered his cafe three weeks ago, and stopped the music, but they were mainly looking to prevent women from entering the cafe.
Last week, the Taliban’s Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice banned women from traveling farther than 78 km without a close male relative.
The ministry also asked drivers not to give rides to women who do not observe hijab, which according to the Taliban means “burqa.”
