By Rukhshana Media
The Taliban Municipality in Kabul began a new campaign on Monday to whitewash “un-Islamic” images of women’s faces and bodies from billboards and store windows across the Afghan capital.
The statement, posted on social media accounts belonging to the Kabul Municipality, is accompanied with exemplary pictures showing images of women’s faces and bodies on beauty salon windows and clothing stores where they have been painted over by black spray paint.
“All [businesses] should adhere to the ethical and moral values in their billboards and advertisements,” the Taliban’s statement reads.
The new Taliban rules legally enforce what many shopkeepers had already been doing – often out of fear of repercussions – in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan since the group swept to power in August.
The aim of the campaign is to cover “the images of women that are against Islamic teachings and a source of moral corruption,” said a source from the Kabul Municipality, who spoke on condition of anonymity to Rukhshana Media.
Previously, the Taliban issued media regulations, which banned movies that depict “women actors.”
Last week the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee (AJSC) reported that the Taliban banned the broadcast of women’s voices and faces on radio and television in the northeastern province of Takhar.
