RASC News Agency: The Taliban’s Department of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Balkh province has issued an official directive to all recreational parks in Mazar-e-Sharif, warning that women and girls are now strictly prohibited from entering these public spaces. The formal document, issued on Sunday, September 15, instructs park authorities to rigorously enforce this mandate. According to the directive, park officials are required to prevent any women from accessing the facilities. In a separate instruction, Taliban morality officers were ordered to personally ensure that women are barred from entering all recreational areas.
A copy of the directive obtained by the media bears the official seal of the Taliban’s Virtue Department in Balkh, signed by Noor Mohammad Haqqani, the head of the department in the province. The document states: “Due to numerous reports and problems arising in the central parks of this province, women are henceforth prohibited from entering recreational parks in Mazar-e-Sharif and the surrounding districts.” Previously, the Taliban had imposed gender-segregated entry to parks in Balkh, but with the issuance of this new order, women are now entirely barred from entering these spaces.
Several women’s rights activists in Mazar-e-Sharif have condemned the decision, labeling it a fresh assault on women’s rights. They have described the decree as unjust and inhumane, stating that it further marginalizes and confines women to their homes. These activists stressed that the Taliban’s latest directive is a direct affront to women’s dignity and a deliberate effort to strip them of their fundamental freedoms. The new policy, they argue, is not only an unjust attack on women’s rights but also a clear attempt to erase their presence from public life.
