Taliban are preventing women they deem to be travelling without a male guardian from entering a joint market between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, local sources in northern Balkh province said.
Residents of the border town of Hairatan said Taliban officials have stopped women described as travelling “without a mahram” from crossing into the market, which serves visitors from Afghanistan and several Central Asian countries.
The sources said Taliban personnel have denied entry to women and their companions, refusing to process identity documents and subjecting them to verbal abuse and humiliating treatment.
They added that restrictions are most pronounced on Fridays, when Afghan visitors are most numerous. On those days, Taliban officials allegedly delay travellers for hours under the pretext of document checks and later force them to leave the area.
“The humiliating treatment Afghans face on our side of the border is worse than what we experience from Uzbek officials,” said one Afghan man who has visited the market. “On Fridays, people are lined up, told their passports will be checked, but after hours, they are driven away without any checks.”
According to the sources, many Afghans travelling to the market are elderly women seeking medical treatment from Uzbek and Russian doctors operating there.
They said Taliban restrictions based on the absence of a male guardian have prevented many women from accessing healthcare and other services, creating serious difficulties for families.
Taliban officials have not commented on the allegations.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women’s movement, requiring male guardians for travel in many circumstances. The policies have drawn repeated criticism from the United Nations and international rights groups.
