Taliban break up a protest over beauty salon ban

Dozens of Afghan women gathered in downtown Kabul on Wednesday to protest the Taliban’s nationwide closure order for beauty salons. Police confronted the protesters with fire hoses and tasers. Security forces also fired guns into the air and took several of the women away in a car.

Why were salons banned? The Taliban claim salons offer services forbidden by Islam and cause financial strain on the families of grooms during wedding festivities. The ban is the latest in a series of edicts restricting women’s rights and freedoms since the Taliban’s takeover of the country. Other bans have barred women from education, public spaces, and many forms of employment, as well as ordering them to cover up in public.

Dig deeper: Read Sharon Dierberger’s feature on Afghan allies of the United States a year after the Taliban takeover.