Aviation officials told AFP that the Taliban had ordered airlines in Afghanistan to ban women from boarding if they were not accompanied by a male relative.

The restrictions on girls were announced after high schools for girls closed on Wednesday (23) – hours after schools reopened for the first time since radical Islamists came to power in August.

Two airline employees, Ariana Afghan and Cam Air, said on Sunday night that the Taliban had ordered airlines not to allow women to travel alone.

The two officials told the AFP that the decision was made after a meeting between Taliban representatives and two airlines and airport immigration officials on Thursday (24).

Since returning to power, the Taliban have announced a number of restrictions on the freedom of women, and local officials in the Ministry of Virtue Promotion and Vice Prevention said it would be enforced at the local level in general.

The ministry said it had not issued any guidelines banning women from traveling alone on the plane.

However, after a meeting with the Taliban, Ariana confirmed the move in a letter to an executive airline staffer in Afghanistan – who received a copy of the AFP message.

“No woman can travel on a domestic or international flight without a male relative,” the letter said.

Two travel agents affiliated with the AFP confirmed that they had stopped issuing tickets to women traveling alone.

“Some women traveling without a male relative were unable to board the Cam Air flight on Friday. [25] From Kabul to Islamabad, ”said one passenger.

The Taliban once banned women from traveling alone by road between cities, but so far they have been allowed to board planes.

The Islamist movement has promised a more tolerant version of the harsh government of the first period in power from 1996 to 2001. But since August, the Taliban have withdrawn two decades of progress on Afghan women’s rights. They were excluded from most public offices and high schools. In addition, they are required to dress in accordance with the strict interpretation of the Qur’an.