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
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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.
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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.
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Women and children rest inside a school in Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar Province on August 7 after leaving their homes to escape fighting.
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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.
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A woman is seen in a burqa with children in Kandahar as fighting between Afghan government forces and the Taliban was ongoing around the southern city on August 4.
Many expect the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan will mean a return to the same brutal suppression of rights that the country's women endured under the Islamic militants' rule from 1996 to 2001.
Majan, a 28-year-old resident of the western city of Herat, which is now under Taliban control, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that she and her two sisters had just bought some blue burqas.
"We used to just wear a hijab, but as the situation is getting worse we have come to buy a burqa. Women do not want to wear the burqa but have to wear it because it’s become necessary."
Many expect the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan will mean a return to the same brutal suppression of rights that the country's women endured under the Islamic militants' rule from 1996 to 2001.
Majan, a 28-year-old resident of the western city of Herat, which is now under Taliban control, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that she and her two sisters had just bought some blue burqas.
"We used to just wear a hijab, but as the situation is getting worse we have come to buy a burqa. Women do not want to wear the burqa but have to wear it because it’s become necessary."
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A woman in Kabul on August 7
Although some women continued to wear burqas after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, RFE/RL's Radio Azadi says use of the garments -- which commonly cost between 2,000-6,500 afghanis ($25-$80) -- had steadily declined in recent years.
Although some women continued to wear burqas after the fall of the Taliban in 2001, RFE/RL's Radio Azadi says use of the garments -- which commonly cost between 2,000-6,500 afghanis ($25-$80) -- had steadily declined in recent years.
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Afghan women gather for a meeting about alleged abuses by the Taliban in Kabul on August 2.
Many women in the Afghan capital choose to wear head scarves in public, or even nothing to cover their hair. But as the Taliban advance they could be forced to adopt the all-concealing burqa.
Many women in the Afghan capital choose to wear head scarves in public, or even nothing to cover their hair. But as the Taliban advance they could be forced to adopt the all-concealing burqa.
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Women wait to enter a taxi in Kabul on July 31.
But as the Taliban rapidly take territory from the government and put draconian restrictions on women's freedom as they go, the prices for burqas are reportedly rising sharply, especially in the western Herat Province.
But as the Taliban rapidly take territory from the government and put draconian restrictions on women's freedom as they go, the prices for burqas are reportedly rising sharply, especially in the western Herat Province.
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Women in burqas in Kandahar on August 4
Burqas in Afghanistan are often colored according to region, with brown burqas such as these frequently worn in Kandahar, blue being especially popular in Kabul, and white ones in the northern part of the country.
Burqas in Afghanistan are often colored according to region, with brown burqas such as these frequently worn in Kandahar, blue being especially popular in Kabul, and white ones in the northern part of the country.
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Members of an internally displaced Afghan family who left their home during the ongoing conflict between the Taliban and Afghan forces arrive from Herat.
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A woman sleeps in her burqa after she and her family were forced from their homes in Kandahar on August 4.
