As the Taliban takes one province after another while closing in on Kabul, prices for the all-concealing burqas are skyrocketing as Afghan women don't want to be targeted by the hard-line Islamist militants.
Afghan Women Disappear Under Burqas Amid Taliban Advance
- By RFE/RL

1
Burqa-clad women who fled their homes ahead of the Taliban's advance in northern Afghanistan gather to receive aid in a Kabul park on August 13.

2
A woman in a burqa walks along a road outside the former U.S. military base in Bagram on July 1.
Burqas are full-body coverings with a mesh covering for the face. Some fundamentalist Muslims interpret disputed passages in the Koran as requiring women to entirely cloak themselves when in public.
Burqas are full-body coverings with a mesh covering for the face. Some fundamentalist Muslims interpret disputed passages in the Koran as requiring women to entirely cloak themselves when in public.

3
Women and children rest inside a school in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar Province on August 7 after leaving their homes to escape fighting.

4
Burqas for sale at a shop in Kabul on June 30.
These are some of the dozens of recent photos from news agencies capturing a widespread return of the burqa as the Taliban tightens its grip on Afghanistan.
These are some of the dozens of recent photos from news agencies capturing a widespread return of the burqa as the Taliban tightens its grip on Afghanistan.