Taliban say security forces will stop women from visiting Afghan national park

Taliban impose ban on women visiting Band-e-Amir, Afghanistan's popular national park, using security forces to enforce hijab rules. Minister Mohammad Khalid Hanafi visited Bamiyan province and asked officials and religious clerics to stop women from going there. Human Rights Watch condemns the move, calling it a step towards making every home a prison for women. Band-e-Amir is a major tourist attraction, providing income to locals through sightseeing, restaurants, hotels and handicrafts.

The Taliban will use security forces to stop women from visiting one of Afghanistan’s most popular national parks, according to information shared by a spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry.

The Ministry alleges that women have not been observing the proper way to wear the hijab, or Islamic headscarf, when going to Band-e-Amir in the central Bamiyan province.

This comes a week after the Minister, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, visited the province and told officials and religious clerics that women haven’t been adhering to the correct way of wearing the hijab, asking security personnel to stop women from visiting the tourist hotspot.

“Going sightseeing is not a must for women,” Hanafi said at the time.

Ministry spokesman Molvi Mohammad Sadiq Akif shared a report of Hanafi’s remarks late Saturday night, including the use of security forces, clerics and elders to carry out Hanafi's order. A recording of the minister's speech in Bamiyan, aligning with Akif’s report, was shared on social media.

Akif was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.

“Not content with depriving girls and women of education, employment, and free movement, the Taliban also want to take from them parks and sport and now even nature, as we see from this latest ban on women visiting Band-e-Amir,” said Heather Barr, the associate women’s rights director at Human Rights Watch in an emailed statement. “Step by step the walls are closing in on women as every home becomes a prison.”