"We Will Not Remain Silent": Afghan Woman Business Leader On Taliban Rule

Taliban have increasingly excluded women from public life since sweeping to power in mid-August.

An Afghan business leader who employs hundreds of women on her saffron fields has vowed to speak up for the rights of her workers, and "not remain silent" under Taliban rule.

The hardliners have increasingly excluded women from public life since sweeping to power in mid-August, pushing many female entrepreneurs to flee the country or go into hiding.

Many fear a return to their brutally oppressive rule from 1996 to 2001 when women were effectively banned from going to school or work, and only allowed to leave the house with a male relative.

"We will raise our voice so that it reaches their ears," said Shafiqeh Attai, who started her saffron company in the western city of Herat in 2007.