Insurgents send female bank employees home as Taliban take control of Kabul
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While the Taliban claim they will be more respectful towards women and minorities this time, whether or not that is the truth remains to be seen
As the Taliban took control of Kabul on Sunday, the women across the country are now fearing for their own safety and rights.
While the Taliban claims the situation regarding women's safety and rights will be different this time, scenes from a few days ago narrate a different story.
Women of Afghanistan recalled that a few days ago groups of Taliban insurgents marched in the Azizi Bank in the southern city of Kandahar and ordered all women working in the bank to leave the premises immediately.
A gunman was sent along with those women to escort them back home. These female employees of the bank were threatened to never return to their jobs again.
"It's really strange to not be allowed to get to work, but now this is what it is," Noor Khatera, a 43-year-old woman who had worked in the accounts department of the bank told Reuters. "I taught myself English and even learned how to operate a computer, but now I will have to look for a place where I can just work with more women around."
A similar incident took place in Herat a few days after the first incident. Three armed insurgents entered the Bank Milli and verbally attacked the female employees for showing their faces. All women in the bank were sent home and their male relatives were asked to report to duty instead.
On Sunday, as the Taliban took control of Kabul the social media went abuzz with images that showed Taliban members painting over advertisements that featured women, the Taliban claimed that women will be given more freedom this time.
"We will respect rights of women...our policy is that women will have access to education and work, to wear the hijab," Taliban Spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on a live BBC report.
However, the truth will only be revealed a few days after the Taliban has completely taken over the capital city. While the Taliban claim they will be more respectful towards women and minorities this time, whether or not that is the truth remains to be seen.